Shane Lowry will need another captain’s pick if he is to make a third Ryder Cup appearance at Bethpage Black next month although it is very likely that Luke Donald will give him the call up for Europe.
For the third successive contest, Lowry will be relying on a wildcard shout after he was pipped to the sixth and final automatic qualifying spot by Rasmus Hojgaard who finished in the top-15 at the Betfred British Masters which was enough to leapfrog the Offaly man at the eleventh hour.
Lowry cannot earn Ryder Cup points today at the Tour Championship as the FedEx Cup plays to a conclusion at East Lake but he is well placed in a share of seventh place heading into the final round.
Lowry, who was ranked as high as tenth in the world this year has slipped outside the top-20 in the rankings after two missed cuts and no top-10 finishes in his last eight events.
Denmark’s Hojgaard will make his Ryder Cup debut next month after a final round of 71 saw him ease into the top-29 where he needed to be at the end of the British Masters at the Belfry.
Despite a wobble in the middle part of his fourth round, he finished the job on Sunday, signing for a closing 71 to finish on eight under par and ensure he will follow in the footsteps of his twin brother Nicolai, who was part of Luke Donald’s victorious European Team at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club two years ago.
Speaking after Sunday’s final round, Højgaard said: “I don’t know what to feel right now. I’ve been so stressed out on the course today.
“I was telling Tom, my caddie, out there ‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to do this’. I managed to make a good four at the end there.
“So I’m over the moon right now.
“I knew every bogey out there was very costly. I was well aware of the situation and to be honest there were a couple of times out there where I really had to calm myself down and not let it spin out of control.
“That birdie on the 15th calmed my nerves a little bit but obviously I put pressure on myself on the 16th again.
“I felt like every hole was just a tough battle. And I’m so happy to be there now.”
Lowry though is not overly worried about missing out on a third European appearance although he wasn’t aware that he couldn’t collect Ryder Cup points this week.
“I only found out about that Monday,” Lowry said. “I thought I was guaranteed getting points this week. I thought I was going to be pretty much guaranteed on the team.
“I was somewhat disappointed to hear that. But the rules were made at the start for qualifying, and that was it.
“I think I finished four points behind Tyrrell [Hatton], which is pretty much a shot, which would have been nice.
“But obviously I don’t know what Rasmus is going to do this weekend, but it looks like he’s probably going to pass me up, and I’m going to need a pick next week, so hopefully I get a nice phone call off Luke.”
