Colin Montgomerie has been given a Ryder Cup boost by the man who matters most - European captain Nick Faldo.
Montgomerie has not had a top 10 finish in stroke play since January, did not qualify for the Masters last month and is now at his lowest position in the world - 90th - for nearly 18 years.
But Faldo, while not giving much away on other matters, did say: "I believe Monty will turn it around. I certainly haven't counted that out. He has a great way of producing the goods when we really need it and in theory a player of his ability has enough time to make it happen."
A month away from his 45th birthday Montgomerie is currently not among the top 30 players in the cup standings who traditionally are measured up for their uniforms this week.
But such is the huge money on offer in the European Tour's flagship event - nearly £600,000 to the winner - that should he win on Sunday the eight-time European number one could jump as high as sixth on the points table.
Given his recent form and the fact that the field includes six of the world's top 20 in Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, that victory is obviously a tall order.
Montgomerie himself feels that he needs to win at least twice before qualifying finishes at the end of August.
Faldo is not putting that as a basic minimum for the Scot either to make it into the team automatically and to come into the reckoning for a wild card.
"That would probably help," Faldo commented, stating the obvious and going no further.