The race for Europe’s qualifiers, however, remains.
This week’s Betfred British Masters on the DP World Tour is the final event offering points. Whereas recent European teams have been made up of a mix of players from a World points list and a European points list, Luke Donald changed the qualification for Bethpage, and there is only one list through that players can automatically secure a place on his team.
Following last week’s BMW Championship on the PGA Tour, both Bob MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton were officially locked into Donald’s team, taking the fourth and fifth spots behind Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose. That leaves just one automatic spot unaccounted for.
And it’s down to two players.
Shane Lowry is currently sixth on the list. While he and Sepp Straka, who is seventh, are in the field for the Tour Championship, they will not receive points for their performance in Atlanta. Which means Rasmus Hojgaard, at No. 8 and in the British Masters field, is the only player who can mathematically move into the automatic place.
The 24-year-old is just 14 points behind Lowry in the standings and will only need a top 30 finish at The Belfry to secure his place at the Ryder Cup next month. A two-way tie for 29th or better will see him jump both Lowry and Straka and finish sixth.
Hojgaard, whose twin brother Nicolai played in the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, finished runner-up in his country last week, at the Danish Golf Championship won by Marco Penge. It was his first top-10 finish in seven starts on the DP World Tour so far this season, but the Dane did finish in the top 20 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January and the Open Championship in July.
Another interesting note in Rasmus’ bid to play in the Ryder Cup is that he’s already got some Ryder Cup adjacent experience. While it was Nicolai who got the captain’s pick in 2023, Donald and team invited Rasmus to be part of the wider staff. Here he is driving Thomas Bjorn’s buggy at Marco Simone.
The five-time DP World Tour winner will be hoping he can continue his course form at The Belfry, having finished third there at the same event last year.
Might we see a Hojgaard twins pairing at Bethpage? The chances will certainly be bolstered with a good performance from Rasmus this week in England.
And if Lowry gets jumped for an automatic spot, he shouldn’t worry. Donald will almost certainly used one of his captain’s picks to make sure the Irishman is playing in New York next month.
