Next year's Ryder Cup does not yet feature on Brian Davis's radar. The son-in-law of former Tottenham and England goalkeeper Ray Clemence is not even certain of qualifying for the Open Championship at Turnberry in six weeks' time.

But you can bet that Davis's name has been jotted down in Colin Montgomerie's notebook and that the European team captain will keep an eye on the progress of the Londoner in this week's Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Ohio.

The presence of Montgomerie and United States skipper Corey Pavin in tomorrow's opening round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, host course of the 38th Ryder Cup to be staged in October 2010, is little more than a sideshow to start stoking interest in the biennial competition.

What has really caught the eye is Davis's sudden promotion from being a troubled journeyman on the US Tour into a genuine contender for a maiden title on the other side of the Atlantic.

The 34-year-old has three top-five finishes in his last four tournaments, including taking second behind South African Rory Sabbatini in the Byron Nelson Championship, and winnings for the season of just over £1million leave him 18th on the US money list.

Having stood 215th in the world rankings just three months ago, Davis is now 107th and on the kind of climb that could see him in contention for a maiden Ryder Cup cap.

He admitted that recent results have been hard to absorb after everything he and his wife Julie have been through. "I've had my stresses," said Davis.

That is an understatement. His tale of woe stretches back to 1998 when complications arising from contracting chicken pox left him in a Dubai hospital's intensive care unit for a week. Seven years later, Davis had a benign tumour removed from his right side and a skin cancer cell cut from the back of his neck.

Then, while recovering, his newly-born second son, Henry, was diagnosed with kidney disease. In 2007 Julie, Henry and the couple's first son, Oliver, were rushed to hospital after a carbon monoxide gas leak in their Florida home. Finally, last summer, the Davis's youngest child, Madeline, suffered collapsed lungs after birth.

It is little wonder that Davis sometimes struggled on the golf course. However, playing a recent round with Padraig Harrington helped him achieve perspective. He revealed: "Padraig told me to always keep the faith.

"People used to look at him and think he was a bridesmaid and now he has three majors to his name."

Now Davis is counting the cash but he has also been earning respect from his American peers as well.

Some time ago, desperate for a start, he wrote to the organisers of last week's Colonial event in Texas promising to play in their Monday Pro-Am in return for an invitation. He later discovered the Pro-Am clashed with an Open Championship qualifying tournament.

Davis decided to keep his pledge, explaining: "If I keep playing well, I'll get into the Open anyway."

The way he's going, Davis will, indeed, be teeing it up in Turnberry.