ZANDVOORT, Holland (PA) -- Cup comes before cash for Justin Rose this week -- even though it means battling with the wind and rain in Holland rather than basking in sunshine in New Jersey.

Last season's European No. 1 has flown to the KLM Open rather than the opening leg of the PGA Tour's money-spinning FedExCup playoffs, for one simple reason. With two weeks to go in the race for Ryder Cup places, the man ranked 12th in the world is still not certain of his spot on the team.

"I hope there will be 20 more FedExCups for me, but I've been looking forward to this Ryder Cup for a long time," said Rose.

The 28-year-old is eighth on the points table, and that means three players have to pass him to knock him out of an automatic spot.

"I might not need to make one more euro, but by coming here it's in my hands," he explained. "It's certainly a situation where I would not feel comfortable sitting in the States. But I am still in a very comfortable situation -- the other three are really sweating over it."

Oliver Wilson and Soren Hansen are about $90,000 behind Rose in ninth and 10th spots. But the player pushing them, German Martin Kaymer, is just about $500 further back.

If all goes well for Rose -- a top-three finish should virtually guarantee his spot -- he will head straight back across the Atlantic, although he may be too far back in the FedExCup standings by then to have a realistic chance of the $10 million jackpot there.

If all goes badly, however, he will have to play next week's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the final event of the year-long qualifying process. If all goes badly there, he might be struggling for a wild card.

Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Graeme McDowell are all on Faldo's team sheet -- and of those, McDowell is the only Ryder Cup rookie.

Rose, Wilson, Hansen and Kaymer would all be first-timers. Hansen has not had a top-60 finish in his last four starts -- including, of course, the last two majors of the season -- but gave his confidence a much-needed boost on Monday when he had a putt for a 59 in a company day for one of his sponsors.

"It was from 30 feet, and I hit it way too hard and three-putted," said the Dane.

Wilson, four times a runner-up this season but still to register his first European Tour win, piled the pressure on himself as well by missing the cut in both the British Open and PGA Championship.

He goes head-to-head with Rose in the opening two rounds, but will be just as interested in how Hansen, Kaymer and those just a bit further back -- defending KLM Open champion Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty -- are faring.

"I was expecting it to be me, Soren and Martin playing together, but I'm really pleased," said Wilson. "I love watching Justin swing, and we get on well.

"I would have taken this position at the start of the year," he added. "But I should have had it tied up a long time ago."

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