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After almost two years of accumulating points towards making the 2018 Ryder Cup team, it all comes down to this week’s Made in Denmark.
The top eight players – four from the European Points List and four from the World Points List – will be locked-in after the European Tour event, with the Dell Technologies Championship NOT a counting event.
Seven of the eight players have now secured their places at Le Golf National. They are: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Alex Noren.
• Thomas Bjorn faces injury sweat over one of his star men
It means that, at this moment in time, there are three players who can secure the final automatic berth: Thorbjorn Olesen, Matt Fitzpatrick and Eddie Pepperell.
Yes! The scenarios for next week are pretty simple:
— Nosferatu (@VC606) August 26, 2018
- @PepperellEddie will qualify if he wins and @Thorbjornolesen finishes outside Top 7
- @MattFitz94 will qualify if he wins and @Thorbjornolesen finishes outside Top 7@RyderCupEurope @thomasbjorngolfhttps://t.co/A7fp3NHCZG
All three are teeing it up in Denmark, with home favourite Olesen in pole position.
• Sergio Garcia suffers huge Ryder Cup blow
According to Official World Golf Ranking guru @VC606, both Fitzpatrick and Pepperell would need to WIN in order to dislodge Olesen, with the Dane needing to finish worse than seventh. That’s a pretty tall order – but certainly not out of the question.
• What has happened to Victor Dubuisson?
But where are the other contenders? Well, the veteran quartet of Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia are not playing in the Made in Denmark, meaning all would be reliant on a captain’s pick from captain Thomas Bjorn.
And this is the European World Points projection before the last counting event in Denmark. @RyderCupEurope @thomasbjorngolf @MiDGolf pic.twitter.com/tu2Wx6QqjV
— Nosferatu (@VC606) August 26, 2018
Poulter, Casey, Stenson and Rafa Cabrera-Bello, the latter of whom is currently tenth on the World Points List, are all competing in the Dell Technologies Championship instead.
Garcia, meanwhile, didn’t qualify for the final four FedEx Cup events and, as of this morning, wasn’t listed on the ‘Entry List’ for the Made in Denmark as a last chance to impress Bjorn.
Another likely contender for a wildcard berth is Thomas Pieters. The Belgian, who was a shining light for Europe at Hazeltine, can’t qualify automatically in Denmark this week but won there two years ago to clinch the third and final wildcard spot in Darren Clarke’s team.
Pieters’ form is certainly heading in the right direction, too, with three top tens in his last four starts.
It looks like captain Bjorn is going to have some BIG decisions to make this time next week…
Who would your captain’s picks be?
Who would your four captain’s picks be from Garcia, Stenson, Casey, Poulter, Cabrera-Bello, Pieters, Fitzpatrick and Pepperell? Let us know in the ‘Comments’ section below.
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