Scotland's golfers are staring down the barrel of having to qualify for this year's World Cup despite claiming the title less than two-years ago.

Following the US Open the Scots are ranked just 23rd among the qualifiers for the tournament to be held at Mission Hills, China in November.

The pecking order for the tournament is calculated by taking the top world-ranked player from each competing nation with Gary Orr, world no.127, best at present.

The top 18 ranked nations are not required to qualify but with Thailand in 18th boasting Thongchai Jaidee, world no. 54, as their top ranked representative Scotland face a huge battle to break into the top 18.

The Scots now rely on higher ranked teams having their top ranked players drop out to give them any chance of making the automatic spots.

Otherwise Scotland will have to take part in a qualifying to vie for the ten remaining spots in the 28-team tournament.

Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, a World Cup winner in 2007 with Marc Warren, usually has the ranking to grab a automatic berth.

But Montgomerie's recent poor form sees him languishing at world no. 205, meaning Scotland's presence in China is hanging in the balance.