The British Masters starting this Thursday at The Belfry is the last qualifying tournament for the European team of the Ryder Cup and the penultimate before Luke Donald announces the six picks that will complete the twelve-man squad. It seems there are eleven players secured and only one spot up for grabs. Well, the captain, present at the British Masters, has not minced words. He has decided to pit the main candidates for that twelfth spot against each other in the tournament. It’s war. What better way to compete under maximum pressure, being a direct witness of what one or two of your main rivals do, to make the final decision.
With this in mind, Donald has placed together in the first two rounds of the British Masters Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rasmus Hojgaard, and Alex Noren on one side, and Marco Penge, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Aaron Rai on the other. Among them, only Rasmus has a mathematical chance to get into the top six. To do so, he must finish at least 29th tied with just one player. Whether he qualifies automatically or not, the presence of this Hojgaard at the Ryder Cup in Bethpage is taken for granted. Therefore, the eleven considered secure are: McIlroy, MacIntyre, Rose, Fleetwood, and Hatton (already automatically qualified), plus Lowry, Straka, Rasmus, Aberg, Hovland, and Rahm.
From here, one spot remains. The main favourites right now are Fitzpatrick, Marco Penge, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Harry Hall (the latter is playing in the PGA Tour Championship). Additionally, Alex Noren, Aaron Rai, Kristoffer Reitan, Matt Wallace, or Laurie Canter should not be ruled out yet. Reitan and Canter, in case you were wondering, are playing with Donald this week, closely watched, either for this week or the future. Wallace is the only one somewhat ‘left out’, playing with John Parry and South African Thriston Lawrence. It seems the Englishman is on a second or third tier, but of course, this can change overnight with a victory this week or in Switzerland or two absolutely outstanding performances.
This battle for the ‘Number 12’ of the Ryder Cup is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding points of attention this week at the British Masters. In any case, let’s remember that this is only the first battle. The second one will still be in Switzerland. Two weeks to finally decide how the European team for Bethpage will be completed.
