AKRON, Ohio (PA) -- Ian Poulter is prepared to sacrifice his FedExCup campaign in order to make the European Ryder Cup team.

The Englishman gave himself a real chance of earning an automatic spot in Nick Faldo's team for the 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla when he finished runner-up to Padraig Harrington at the British Open 10 days ago.

Poulter now lies seventh on the world points list, two places and just under 20 points off the final qualifying spot and $50,000 away from a berth via the European points list.

With big prize money on offer over the next weeks at both the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, Poulter is hopeful he can complete the job early.

If he doesn't manage that, he claimed Wednesday he would be prepared to shift his schedule in a bid to make sure in the final three qualifying events back in Europe, rather than continue Stateside and contest the lucrative FedExCup playoff tournaments.

"I want to make the side, so if I have to I will certainly look at what needs to be done to try to make the side," Poulter said. "I'd like to stay in one place so I don't have to be channel hopping, which is not going to be the best for jet lag. "So if I can play well over the next two weeks then certainly I won't have to be flying back home and back for Ryder Cup," he explained. "I can stay on this side of the pond and feel fresh and do the right practice -- and be fresh to be as good as I possibly can for the Ryder Cup.

"But I guess at times you have to look at it and do what you need to do to make the side. But that's why these two weeks are very, very, very important, to play well and be in the side without having to go back home."

Poulter, an automatic team qualifier in 2004 for the Oakland Hills matches, said that after his second-place finish at Royal Birkdale he had done all the calculations to see what he needed from the remaining five qualifying events.

"I've looked at all the scenarios last week to see where it moved me. It put me in a great position. It moved me from fairly well down that list to right in contention," he said.

"I'm (just) out of the Order of Merit position. I've been into fifth place. I'm 20 world ranking points out of making the side automatically off of the world list. I know all the different permutations.

"Have I done enough to get a pick? That's not for me to say. All I know is that the next two weeks are really important to play good golf," he said. "These next two weeks mean not only do I earn points on our Order of Merit list, I also earn points on the world list, and that can help me on both sides.

"My schedule after the next two weeks will probably be the FedExCup, which obviously doesn't count on the European Tour Order of Merit list. So these next two weeks are very important to play good golf and move up both lists.

"And then I'm going to have to take a rain check after the PGA and see where we stand on both lists there to try to make the side."

With Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Paul Casey among the other high-profile Europeans also on the outside looking in, Poulter insisted he did not want to rely on one of the two captain's picks and therefore add pressure on Faldo.

"There's so many different permutations at the minute, obviously not just for me but for Nick, to see his players play well in the next few weeks," he said. "I've got five tournaments left to make a stand to try to make the side automatically, and that's what I want to do.

"I don't want to rely on a pick. I don't want to put any pressure on Nick. Nick is going to have enough pressure as it is without me telephoning in before a pick."

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