Birmingham, England – Rasmus Højgaard won the remaining automatic qualification positions in the European Ryder Cup side and a 13-place draw in the British Masters, won by Alex Norén on Sunday.
Højgaard needs to rank 29 or higher in a two-way draw at the Bell Tower to win enough points to surpass Shane Lowry, who clung to the sixth and last spot on the automatic qualifiers list in the European team.
Although Højgaard hit 1 with 71 in the final round and skipped Lowry, Højgaard scored 71. Norén shot 67 and the last 7-foot bogey putt scored a segment victory in a 16-under par.
“I don’t know how to feel – I’m feeling stressed in the class today. I told my caddies that I don’t know how I’m going to do that,” Hoyegad said.
“I’m on the moon now.”
Højgaard received a call from European captain Luke Donald after the tour.
“You’ve made money, you belong to you, and I’m so glad to be on the team,” Donald said.
Donald added: “I know it was a stressful week, a lot of ups and downs, but you stand out and that’s what it means. So you should be proud of yourself.”
Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton have claimed five other automatic positions on Luke Donald’s team, which will defend the Ryder Cup.
Laurie now has to hope that one of the six captains’ draft picks will complete 12 people. They will announce on September 1.
Rasmus Højgaard’s twin brother Nicolai competes in Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup outside Rome.
