The Deutsche Bank Championship offers a prize fund of almost £5m with £870,000 going to the winner, but it will also effectively act as the last qualifying event for the Ryder Cup.

Like European counterpart Paul McGinley, US captain Tom Watson will name his three wild cards on Tuesday, the day after the Deutsche Bank concludes in Boston.

Hunter Mahan became favourite for a wild card with his victory in the first play-off event, which put him above Rory McIlroy at the top of the standings. Keegan Bradley, who was 13th in Ryder Cup qualifying, would also appear to be high on Watson's radar despite missing the cut in the US PGA and finishing 53rd last week, his three wins out of three matches with Phil Mickelson at Medinah strongly in his favour.

Brandt Snedeker finished 20th in qualifying but looks to be rounding into form at the right time, finishing tied for 12th at the Bridgestone, 13th at the US PGA and fifth at the Wyndham Championship before missing the cut at The Barclays.

According to 1991 European team member Paul Broadhurst, Watson will miss the big-hitting Dustin Johnson at Gleneagles more than he will Tiger Woods.

Johnson has taken a leave of absence from golf to deal with "personal challenges" and Broadhurst said: "The way Tiger's been playing the US will be better off without him. His Ryder Cup record isn't brilliant but I'm sure he would have been on their team if he had been fit and his form would have been half decent.

"I think Dustin's a bigger loss for the Americans because he's such a powerful player."