Ian Poulter: Team Europe in Good Form Ahead of Ryder Cup at Gleneagles

Ian Poulter says Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley will be pleased Europeans are showing good form ahead of the competition.

Irishman McGinley has until 2 September to make up his mind over who his wildcard players will be for this year's tournament, which will be held at Gleneagles, Scotland.

Poulter, who is currently playing in the Volvo China Open, is one of nine golfers who have already qualified for inclusion in the 12-man squad alongside Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Thomas Bjorn and Henrik Stenson.

Rookies Jamie Donaldson and Victor Dubuisson also occupy automatic selection spots, which would leave McGinley looking to pick three more Europeans.

But despite springing to form, 38-year-old Poulter, who finished in the top 20 at the Augusta National this month, told a press conference in China there was still time for competitors to improve their game before taking on Team USA on September 26-28.

He said: "There is a long way to go. I think Paul McGinley will be very pleased to see a lot of the top players and the guys from the last team starting to come into form at this time of the year.

"There are a lot of big events left to go and you tend to see the world-class players performing at their best in the majors and the biggest tournaments.

"Luke Donald's playing great, Sergio is playing great and Lee Westwood has just won. I think the team will take shape over the summer and come September there will be two great teams fighting to get their hands on that fabulous trophy."

Commenting on his own form, the hero of the 2012 Medina competition said he was taking positives from Augusta.

"There were a few encouraging signs after the Masters," he added. "I had a bit of a strange start to the year in the sense that I didn't really know what I was doing with my swing for a while, which is unlike me, but I seem to have figured that out and have started to play some really good golf.

"I am still making the odd costly mistake recently so the results haven't reflected how well I have been playing, but I am looking forward to keeping the improvements coming at the Volvo China Open. "