Pablo Larrazábal climbed a staggering 19 places and inside the top ten on the European Points List after his second victory in three starts at the KLM Open on the DP World Tour.
Rounds of 66-73-67-69 saw the Spaniard finish two clear of his nearest competitor, Adrian Otaegui, and collect his ninth DP World Tour title.
The victory fires Larrazábal into ninth position on the European Points List with 1,109.75 points, as he looks to chase down Victor Perez (1,427.58 points) who currently occupies the final qualifying spot on the European Points List.
Should Larrazábal make Luke Donald’s team at Marco Simone Golf Club & Country Club in September it will be his debut for Team Europe.
Larrazábal, who turned 40 earlier this month, said: "It doesn't matter how fast you run at the beginning, you have to run fast at the end to win the race.
"And that's what I did. What a putt on the last. I tried to make two putts from 20 feet and suddenly I made it.
"I'm so proud of myself and so proud of my team. We struggled big time through Covid but here we are - four wins in the last 15 months. It means too much to me.
"Hopefully I do 20 per cent of what Miguel (Ángel Jiménez) did in his forties. This is the first win of 40."
As it stands, four Spaniards sit inside the top ten on the European Points List in Jon Rahm (first), Otaegui (sixth), Jorge Campillo (eighth) and Larrazábal (ninth).
Rasmus Højgaard also climbed a respectable seven places on the European Points List where he currently occupies the tenth spot with 1,094.93 points after finishing in tie for third at the KLM Open.
As it stands Rahm (2,910.53 points), Rory McIlroy (2,354.20 points) and Viktor Perez (1,427.58 points) sit in the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Viktor Hovland (177.67 points), Tyrrell Hatton (155.66 points) and Matt Fitzpatrick (128.47 points) in the top three positions on the World Points List.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place between September 25 – October 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy.
Click here for full rankings.
