Dates: 29 September – 1 October Venue: Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome |
Coverage: Live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, text commentary on BBC Sport website and daily highlights on BBC Two |
Seven players are vying for the final two automatic spots on Europe’s Ryder Cup team at this week’s final qualifying event in Switzerland.
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton have come through the European and world points lists.
Captain Luke Donald makes six wildcard picks on Monday, 4 September for the 29 September – 1 October match in Rome.
Who needs what to qualify
McIlroy and Rahm have secured their spots via the European points list, while Hovland and Hatton are the top two names on the world points list.
That means there is one spot up for grabs on each list.
The world points list is the most straightforward, with 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick looking to oust fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
Fitzpatrick, who has twice won at Crans-sur-Sierre, needs a top six finish at the European Masters, which starts on Thursday, to jump above Fleetwood, who is not playing this week. Joint seventh would also be enough for Fitzpatrick, but only if he was tied with one other player.
But the likelihood is that whoever doesn’t get the automatic spot will be a shoo-in for a wildcard pick.
The European points list is slightly more complicated, with six players in contention, although Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is in the box seat.
Yannik Paul, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Rasmus Hojgaard and Adrian Otaegui are the only men who can catch him.
A win guarantees MacIntyre a place on his first Ryder Cup team. But if he finishes second or lower, then the calculators are coming out. He starts 126.09 points ahead of Germany’s Paul, with 415 points going to this week’s winner, 275 for second and 157 for third.
So, if Paul were to win, he would move above MacIntyre, regardless of where the left-hander finished. Poland’s Meronk needs to at least finish joint second with only one other player to have any chance, while Perez of France needs to be at least second on his own to be in contention.
Both Hojgaard and Otaegui need to win to have any possibility of an automatic spot.