Six

Aug 06, 2023

The final spot on the European Points List will come down to six players in the final qualifying event at this week’s Omega European Masters.

After finishing in a six-way tie for fourth place at the D+D REAL Czech Masters, Robert MacIntyre will retain a slender lead in the European Points List heading into the final week of Ryder Cup Qualifying after narrowly increasing his lead over closest challenger Yannik Paul.

The Scot birdied his final hole to finish his week on 17 under par, gaining 85.42 points in the Czech Republic to increase his total on the European Points List to 1828.99.

His top five at Albatross Golf Resort also helped to increase his advantage over Yannik Paul, who began his week just 90.67 points behind MacIntyre and finished one behind him in tenth place on 16 under par. It means Paul gained 50 points to up his tally to 1702.9, which leaves him 126.09 points adrift of the man who displaced him in the automatic spot with one week to go.

MacIntyre and Paul are two of six players in this week’s field that can end the week in Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team. They all have necessary scenarios to make that happen, but Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Rasmus Hojgaard and Adrian Otaegui all have a mathematical chance of claiming that third and final place.

They will all tee up at Crans-sur-Sierre on Thursday knowing that the fate of their Ryder Cup place is in their hands, whether that is doing enough to qualify, or enough to impress Captain Luke Donald in the last event of the qualifying period.

Tommy Fleetwood, who is currently occupying thethird spot on the World's Points List, could have also qualified with a win but is not competing in Switzerland this week.

· MacIntyre could still be caught even if he finishes second, so needs to win to absolutely guarantee his place, but only a top-three finish from fellow contenders will threaten his position.

· Paul will qualifies if he wins. He would need to finish at least tied for third with two others, or better, to have a chance.

· Meronk needs to finish in a tie for second with just one player or better to have a chance

· Perez needs to finish in second place alone, or to win to have a chance

· R Hojgaard needs to win to have a chance

· Otaegui needs to win to have a chance

News

Todd Clements put on a flawless Sunday display to earn maiden win, MacIntyre keeps in front in Ryder Cup qualifying race, and plenty of players try to impress European Captain Luke Donald