Miguel Angel Jimenez heading for Gleneagles after all as he cancels plans to attend a family wedding

Pushed down into the ninth and last guaranteed spot on the points table by Peter Hanson's win at the Czech Open, 46-year-old Jimenez flew home to Spain and on arrival decided that it was next stop Scotland, rather than going along to Saturday's family celebration.

The Dubai Desert Classic and French Open champion will be trying to secure a fourth Ryder Cup cap at the Johnnie Walker Championship - providing he makes the halfway cut, that is.

"Basically Miguel feels that this is quite likely to be his last opportunity to play in the match," said Jimenez's manager, Sarah Phillips.

"He looked at the points situation on his flight back to Malaga and then texted me to say he was going to play.

"It's sod's law that one of the players who can pass him would do so if he wasn't there, so he wants to give himself the best opportunity."

Jimenez, who playing with Hanson dropped from second to seventh on the last day in the Czech Open, could be overtaken by English pair Ross McGowan and Simon Dyson or by his fellow Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.

McGowan needs a top-two finish to have a chance, while Dyson and Quiros have to win on Sunday.

Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald could also have qualified but have controversially chosen to stay in the United States and play the first of the FedEx Cup play-off series.

That tournament does not count in the cup race and along with Justin Rose and Scottish Open champion Edoardo Molinari, they all now need one of captain Colin Montgomerie's three wild cards.

What Jimenez's decision also means is that Molinari's brother and World Cup-winning partner Francesco is suddenly not quite sure of his first cap yet.

He currently stands seventh, but could drop out of the top nine if McGowan wins, Jimenez is in the first six and Hanson in the first 10.

Ross Fisher is still safe, however, so Montgomerie knows half of his team - Lee Westwood (calf injury permitting), Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter and Fisher.

Jimenez's late entry increases the number of world ranking points on offer at Gleneagles, but if Edoardo Molinari won the tournament he would still finish one agonising point behind McDowell on that cup table.

And the 233,330 first prize could also leave him less than 10,000 short of Jimenez's total in ninth place on the overall standings.

Such a win, though, would strengthen his wild card claims no end, particularly if his brother does clinch a spot.

Meanwhile, the European Tour's chief operating officer Keith Waters has quashed speculation that bad weather at Gleneagles might offer an amazing lifeline to Donald, Harrington and Rose.The qualifying rules for Montgomerie's side state that automatic places will go to "the leading four players on the Ryder Cup World Points List as of Sunday, August 29, or at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, whichever is the latter."

With heavy rain and fog in the forecast, there is the possibility that it will not finish until Monday - and by then Donald, Harrington and Rose might have been able to gather sufficient points at The Barclays tournament in New Jersey to climb into the top four.

But Waters stated: "The Barclays does not count, irrespective of the Johnnie Walker Championship finish time."

Donald discovered only little more than a week ago that the FedEx Cup event did not carry Ryder Cup points and Harrington said it was only recently that he remembered that fact.

England's Chris Paisley and Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar have been given the last two invitation spots this week.

The places had been left open in case Casey, Harrington, Donald or Rose changed their minds. But instead 24-year-old Paisley, from Stocksfield in Northumberland, will make his European Tour debut and 22-year-old Bhullar will play in Britain for the first time since last year's Open Championship.