Victor Perez overtook Germany’s Yannik Paul to move into the final qualifying spot on the European Points List after finishing third in his group at the World Golf Championships - Dell Technologies Match Play.
Back-to-back 2&1 defeats against Australia’s Jason Day and U.S. Ryder Cup star Collin Morikawa meant Perez would not advance to the knockout stages.
However, the Frenchman’s week ended well at Austin Country Club with a 5&4 victory over Canadian Adam Svensson in his final match.
It was enough, however, to climb one spot on the European Points List where he now sits in the final qualifying position with 1,286.02 points.
Rory McIlroy was Europe’s highest placed player in Austin, Texas, as he was narrowly defeated in the semi-final by Cameron Young at the first extra-hole, before going on to beat World Number One Scottie Scheffler in the third-place play-off.
Meanwhile, England’s Matt Wallace claimed a maiden victory on the PGA TOUR thanks to a stunning final round 66, including four straight birdies on the back nine, to win by one from fellow Team Europe hopeful Nicolai Højgaard at the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Already a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, Wallace’s U.S. breakthrough victory sees him climb 20 places on the World Points List and into 22nd place with 32.08 points.
"Everyone knows I'm a feisty character, but that got me through today," Wallace said. "I was calm, felt I was determined, I felt like I had it in me all week. I really felt like I was playing some really good stuff and I felt like I was going to be up there at the end of the week no matter what.
"I didn't get off to the start I wanted today, but Sam [Bernard – Wallace’s caddie] was brilliant and we were just so positive. Then the way I finished was exactly how I feel like I can play golf. That was awesome, down those final few holes was brilliant and I'm really proud of myself to get through that."
There was another European winner on the DP World Tour as Nick Bachem claimed his first Tour title at the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa.
The victory sees the 23-year-old German climb 74 places on the European Points List and into 49th position with 329.32 points.
He said: "It's just amazing. I can't understand what's happening the last couple of days, it's just amazing and feels great.
"I just had the goal to enjoy today, it's just the beginning of my career so I just enjoyed it as much as possible and played great and got lucky that it was my day.
"I thought it was super-close and then I saw the leaderboard on 15, saw I was four shots ahead or whatever and then I was super-nervous. I just kept on going and it was a pretty nice finish."
As it stands McIlroy (2,171.50 points), Jon Rahm (1,883.53 points), and Perez (1,286.02 points) would claim the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Tyrrell Hatton (108.72 points), Viktor Hovland (103.92 points) and Shane Lowry (62.71 points) currently sitting 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.
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