Ryder Cup hopeful Matt Fitzpatrick will have to overcome vice captain Thomas Bjørn in the first round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play if he wants to gain maximum points from this, the fourth last week of Ryder Cup qualification.
The young Englishman is the third seed for the tournament which begins at Archerfield on Thursday, but he was given one of the toughest first round opponents after the first round draw saw the 32 top seeds randomly matched with the 32 non-seeded players for round one of the straight knock-out tournament.
Bjørn has a wealth of match play experience, not least from his three Ryder Cup appearances, and will pose Fitzpatrick serious test on day one.
Among the other highlights in the round one draw is tournament host Lawrie’s match up with Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard, while number one seed Chris Wood – who looks likely to make his Ryder Cup debut at the end of September – takes on Australian Brett Rumford.
The local crowds at Archerfield will not only be keeping an eye on Lawrie’s first round tie, with seven Scotsmen in the field.
Scott Jamieson will take on Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open champion Alex Noren of Sweden; Richie Ramsay goes up against England’s David Howell; Marc Warren faces Jorge Campillo of Spain; Craig Lee takes on Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin; David Drysdale goes up against Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland and Stephen Gallacher will mark his return to competitive golf against young Italian Renato Paratore.
Complete first round draw:
08:00 – John Parry vs Hayden Porteous
08:10 – David Horsey vs Sebastian Gros
08:20 – Alvaro Quiros vs James Morrison
08:30 – Graeme Storm vs Tommy Fleetwood
08:40 – Simon Kahn vs Pablo Larazabal
08:50 – Oliver Fisher vs Peter Uihlein
09:00 – Morten Madsen vs Johan Carlsson
09:10 – Robert Rock vs Gary Stal
09:25 – Marc Warren vs Jorge Campillo
09:35 – Magnus Carlsson vs Chase Koepka
09:45 – Kristoffer Broberg vs Matthew Southgate
09:55 – David Drysdale vs Michael Hoey
10:05 – David Howell vs Richie Ramsay
10:15 – Roope Kakko vs Gregory Havret
10:25 – Chirs Paisley vs Benjamin Hebert
10:35 – David Lipsky vs Prom Meesawat
12:30 – Richard Green vs Lee Slattery
12:40 – Paul Lawrie vs Lucas Bjerregaard
12:50 – Callum Shinkjin vs Eduardo De La Riva
13:00 – Mike Lorenzo-Vera vs Alejandro Cañizares
13:10 – Jin Jeong vs Mikko Illonen
13:20 – Edoardo Molinari vs Max Kieffer
13:30 – Oliver Wilson vs Nacho Elvira
13:40 – Craig Lee vs Raphael Jacquelin
13:55 – Joakhim Lagergren vs Richard Bland
14:05 – Anthony Wall vs Robert Dinwiddie
14:15 – Thomas Bjørn vs Matthew Fitzpatrick
14:25 – Matt Ford vs Pelle Edberg
14:35 – Brett Rumford vs Chris Wood
14:45 – Gareth Wright vs Daniel Brooks
14:55 – Scott Jamieson vs Alex Noren
15:05 – Stephen Gallacher vs Renato Paratore
