IT is three years since Graeme Storm helped Great Britain & Ireland to Seve Trophy success over the Europeans, but he has always been realistic about his chances of going one better.

Even now, despite spending years on the European Tour and boasting a French Open title, it would be a dream for Storm to play in the Ryder Cup.

Watching the action from his holiday home in Spain, however, is what it will all be about this weekend.

Storm is enjoying a break from a difficult season in which he has had to overcome injury and caddie problems in his pursuit of retaining his Tour card.

Having done so, with tournaments to spare, it is now about focusing on ending the campaign on a high.

He has spent a few days recently practising on the fairways and greens at Rockliffe Hall, at Hurwoth, County Durham, where he has now been attached for a year.

When he first signed a 12- month affiliation deal he was quick to suggest Rockliffe will be in a strong position to compete to play host to the Ryder Cup one day.

Having played a few rounds there during his break from European Tour action, he is more convinced than ever.

“The course is in the best shape I have ever seen it,”

said Storm. “The whole place is hopefully going to take off and be bigger and better.

“There is a possibility it could host a major event and I would like to be involved in something to do it. It’s got the potential, it’s just getting the investment, getting the sponsors, getting the people to understand it.

“The course is ready. It could do with a little bit of tinkering in certain areas, just to toughen it up.

“Fairways are a little bit wide at the moment, you could quite easily narrow them off a bit. Maybe put a couple of extra bunkers in, quicken the greens up to make them faster.

“It has matured fantastically. For a starting point, if you held a Challenge Tour event here, the players would come. The European Tour would see it and then they would say ‘we could hold a tournament here’. Then maybe we could host an English Open or an English Masters. There’s no British Masters anymore.

Why not bring it here?

There’s a window here for it.”

Such ideas are pipe dreams at the moment, but Storm has played in the US Masters, US Open, The Open Championship and spent years on the best courses the world has to offer. He is well placed to pass judgement and Rockliffe and this week’s Ryder Cup.

And, contrary to the belief that the Europeans will successfully overcome the United States, Storm thinks this year’s Ryder Cup could be the occasion when Tiger Woods recaptures his best.

“Europe will find it harder than they are making it sound,” he said. “The bookies have got the odds wrong. Europe are favourites but it is closer than they think.

“People are thinking Tiger Woods has never done well in the Ryder Cup. This time he has had to be selected and he will be out to prove a point. That to me means he could be their top points scorer. They also have No 1 and No 2 in the world on their team.”

He will be an interested observer, but accepts that is about as close he is likely to get to the Ryder Cup, having been frustrated as a spectator at the K-Club in 2006.

“It’s not a massive thing for me, I don’t set playing in one as a target,” said the 32- year-old. “You have to understand where you are and at the moment I am not ready and not good enough.

“I would like to think that if I put the work in, which I have over the last few years, that there is no reason why I can’t get to that level eventually. It might come too late, I don’t know.”