Fitzpatrick leads as Hojgaard eyes Ryder Cup place
British Masters – round three leaderboard
-12 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -11 A Noren (Swe); -10 N Hojgaard (Den), M Penge (Eng); -9 M Wallace (Eng), S Forsstroem (Swe), C Adam (Sco)
Selected others: -8 A Sullivan (Eng); -7 D Willett (Eng), R Hojgaard (Den), D Bradbury (Eng); J Smith (Eng); -6 M Siem (Ger), A Fitzpatrick (Eng)
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick leads the British Masters going into the final round while Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard moved closer to an automatic Ryder Cup place.
The 2022 US Open champion Fitzpatrick is himself hoping to earn a captain’s pick to appear for Europe against the United States at the Ryder Cup, which takes place from 26-28 September at Bethpage Black in New York.
Fitzpatrick took the lead with a chip-in eagle on the 15th in a four-under round of 68 to reach 12 under, one ahead of Swede Alex Noren, and revealed Europe captain Luke Donald urged him to play in the tournament at the Belfry.
“My confidence is high but it’s important to keep my expectations as low as possible,” Fitzpatrick, who won the tournament 10 years ago as a 21-year-old, told Sky Sports.
“The goal when I entered here was to make a case for myself [for the Ryder Cup].”
German Marcel Siem led Fitzpatrick by one shot going into Saturday but, dropped back to six under after a 75.
Race for Ryder Cup spots
Donald will make six selections on 1 September to add to his six qualifiers.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who are ninth and 10th in the standings, are not playing in this final qualifying event but look almost certain to be picked, while Spain’s Jon Rahm, who won the LIV Golf individual title, is also likely to be included.
That would leave three spots. One would look set to be taken by either Rasmus Hojgaard or Shane Lowry.
Rasmus Hojgaard, who blew a four-shot lead in last week’s final round at the Danish Golf Championship, remains on course to claim the last automatic spot.
Ireland’s Lowry occupies the all-important sixth place in the standings for now, but he is playing at the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship, a non-qualifying event, which means Hojgaard will take that guaranteed Ryder Cup spot should he finish joint 29th or better.
The Dane lies joint 14th after the third round, alongside six others on seven under.
Given Donald’s desire for Fitzpatrick to play at the British Masters, you’d suspect the a victory for the Englishman would cement his place via a pick.
And that would leave just one place left.
England’s Marco Penge, who rose six places to 14th in the Ryder Cup standings after taking advantage of Hojgaard’s slip to triumph in Denmark, continues to push his claim.
Penge equalled the Brabazon course record at the former Ryder Cup venue with a bogey-free 63 that featured nine birdies as he moved to joint third.
Back-to-back victories would certainly impress Donald.
England’s Matt Wallace, who is currently 11th in the European standings, shot a 70 to improve to nine under and will likely need to win on Sunday if he is to stand any chance of figuring in Donald’s plans.
Others in contention including English pair Aaron Rai and Harry Hall, who have both impressed on the PGA Tour this season, while Austria’s Sepp Straka looks to be in the strongest position given he is seventh in the standings.
Meanwhile, Noren’s 65 confirmed a return to form after he returned in May from seven months out with a hamstring tear.
The 43-year-old Swede won two of his three Ryder Cup matches – in the foursomes alongside Sergio Garcia – in France seven years ago, but played down his chances of being picked this time.
“I haven’t played enough of those tournaments with the big boys so I’m not really thinking about that,” he said.
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