“We can look forward to it and get my game in shape”.
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England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, a “golf in DUBAi” ambassador, continued his remarkable rise by all but locking up a spot in captain Darren Clarke’s European Ryder Cup team which will take on the United States in Hazeltine in the last week of September.
And that means Yorkshire’s Danny Willett and Matt Fitzpatrick, along with Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Chris Wood, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Andy Sullivan are guaranteed to be on the plane to Minnesota in search of an unprecedented fourth straight win in the biennial event.
Former world No 1 Luke Donald is also looking to stake a late claim for a wildcard pick, after posting his second runner-up finish of the year at the Wyndham Championship. This might have been hard territory as well for Clarke, given their close friendship, but thankfully Westwood’s form has been such that no-one would question him as a pick.
Shane Lowry has admitted he probably needs to win this week’s Made In Denmark to give himself any chance of being handed a captain’s pick for Europe’s Ryder Cup side.
But who on earth will be Clarke’s third pick? The man who would be unlucky to miss out is Scot Russell Knox, presently 10th on the list despite his victory in the WGC Champions tournament in China last November not counting, since he wasn’t a European Tour member at the time. Graeme McDowell was among the later starters. It’s really all I’ve ever wanted’.
However, Pieters lost out by a single shot to American Paul Peterson on Sunday and Lowry was certain to finish down the field in North Carolina after a closing 67.
Fitzpatrick impressed with ten top-10 finishes in his rookie season past year, which included his first win at the British Masters, which moved him into the qualifying places in October.
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“I think I have the best record in European history so I’ve got a lot of good things going for me, but I obviously need a very strong performance [at The Barclays] if not a win to have any chance”.
