Another week of qualification is in the books and just one week and one event remains in the race to make it on the European Ryder Cup team.
Five players teed it up last week with a chance of playing their way into an automatic qualification spot, looking to jump ahead of Thorbjorn Olesen who currently holds the final qualifying place in the World Points List, but none were able to capitalise.
Eddie Pepperell was the only player in the field at the D+D Real Czech Masters that could move into an automatic qualification place. The Englishman need to win in Prague but despite four under par rounds he finished in a tie for ninth.
2016 Ryder Cup rookie Thomas Pieters co-led after 18 holes but his challenge faded also as he finished alongside Pepperell at 12 under par.
In America, Paul Casey and Rafa Cabrera Bello opened with rounds of 67 but slipped down the leaderboard over the weekend, finishing tied for 60th.
Ian Poulter had a steady week, finishing tied 48th, but was never able to mount a charge close to the finish he required to play his way into the team.
Russell Knox was the last player who had a mathematical chance of earning a place on Thomas Bjorn’s team but the Scot missed the cut in New Jersey.
As things stand, with just the Made in Denmark left in the qualification race, seven of the eight automatic spots are now confirmed with Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood earning their places on the European Points List and Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Alex Noren qualifying through the World Points List.
The last automatic spot will belong to either Thorbjorn Olesen, Matt Fitzpatrick or Eddie Pepperell. All three tee it up in Denmark this week.
