First, Northern Ireland and Ireland are one and the same for WC purposes, even though two separate nations on the OWGR. So, SV is already sitting in the final spot if the cut off were as of today.

Second, 9 spots ahead of SV right now are taken by the lone representatives of their country. It's highly likely at least one or two of those decline the invite and so SV would actually move higher up the ladder, giving a little wiggle room if he were to be jumped in the rankings between now and Sept.

The world cup is terrible timing for European Tour regulars as it'd be the 5th straight event following the WGC-China and the 3 European Tour season enders. That's China, Turkey, South Africa and UAE, so I could see guys like Joost Luiten or Mikko Korhonen not being keen on adding Australia to that list. Grillo, Kaymer and Zanotti each declined an invite to the '16 world cup and all three are the lone reps of their countries right now.

In 2016, three guys ranked lower than SV's current ranking got invited to play, with the final invite going to the 296th player in the world. Securing a few more pts won't hurt, but that solo 2nd this week may have done enough.