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Ryder Cup the goal for Bjorn in 2012

Thomas Bjorn has lofty goals for 2012 after a successful 2011 © Getty Images

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• Profile: Thomas Bjorn

Thomas Bjorn has set his sights on playing his way onto the 2012 European Ryder Cup team after rediscovering his best form this year.

Bjorn won three titles in 2011, a surprising return to the spotlight after ending 2010 a lowly 123rd in the world rankings. Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal will expect to see some of Europe's best players make their way onto the team to travel to Medinah in September, including Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy, but the 40-year-old Bjorn is confident he can join them.

In two playing appearances (1997 and 2002) and two vice-captain roles (2004 and 2010) Bjorn has never been on the losing side in a Ryder Cup, and wants to experience that joy once again.

"It's realistic with the way I'm playing," Bjorn told The Times. "But that side is going to be so hard to make. The strength in depth of our players is unbelievable and to have any chance you have got to play fantastic golf for a full year."

If the Dane replicates the success of this year - where he won the Qatar Masters, Johnnie Walker Classic and European Masters - then he should secure an automatic place in the 12-man team. Prior to his success in Qatar in February, he had won just once in four seasons.

"You always believe you're working with a purpose, but if you'd asked me if I thought I'd win three times before the end of August, the answer would have been no,' " he said. "I'd only ever won twice in a season before [in 1998], so it wasn't on the cards."

Bjorn credits this year's Open Championship as a turning point, after he returned to Royal St George's to confront the demons of his meltdown there in 2003 that cost him the Claret Jug. Bjorn made the field as a reserve only after Vijay Singh withdrew, but went on to contend over all four days in testing conditions before ultimately finishing fourth.

"The Open was massive for me," he noted. "I didn't want to be there, hanging around as a reserve. It's then that you get all the flashbacks. But eventually I got to play and I could have won it. But in the end I didn't do enough on the Sunday and Darren [Clarke, the champion] played fantastically on the final day.

"I made a double bogey at the wrong time at the 16th [in 2003] and it became a massive thing. That's gone now and I feel I've got the game together again to be able to challenge for major championships."

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