ZANDVOORT, Holland (PA) -- Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson, eighth and ninth in the European Ryder Cup race entering the penultimate tournament, will go head to head in the first two rounds of the KLM Open starting Thursday.

Rose's failure to make certain of a place in the Nick Faldo's side has brought him back from America, where he had been planning to play the first leg of the FedExCup playoff series with its $7 million jackpot.

"It's a frustrating situation," he admitted. "I don't know whether I have done enough yet to get into the team. I hope so, but I might not have."

Last season's European Tour No. 1 is about $90,000 ahead of Wilson, who in turn is about $5,000 ahead of Dane Soren Hansen in the 10th and last automatic spot. The closest gap, though, is between Hansen and 11th-placed Martin Kaymer. Just about $500 separates them.

Rose can also influence Ian Poulter's bid to avoid needing a wild card.

Poulter decided to play in America this week to chase the world ranking points that would earn him one of the first five spots in Faldo's line-up.

A fourth-place finish at The Barclays should take him past Robert Karlsson -- but only if Rose is not in the top two at Kennemer Golf & Country Club this week.

Also in Holland are Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty, 13th and 14th in the standings and both hoping they can at least close the gap before heading to Gleneagles for next week's Johnnie Walker Championship, the final counting event.

Poulter will return for that if he has to, and Rose has entered it as well just in case.

Faldo, of course, also has two wild cards to hand out on Sunday week.

Colin Montgomerie and Paul Casey cannot now qualify automatically, but as things stand Poulter, Darren Clarke and last week's PGA Tour winner Carl Pettersson are also in need. And Fisher, such an impressive winner of last month's European Open, deserves to come into the equation, too.

Clarke and Dougherty are also paired together in Holland, while Fisher plays with Peter Hanson, winner of the SAS Masters in Stockholm on Sunday and still in with a cup chance himself, and fellow Swede Henrik Stenson, who has already secured his second berth.

Faldo can also count on Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Graeme McDowell.

The rest, though, is all up for grabs -- and that is why Rose is where he is this week.

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