Birmingham, England — Matt Fitzpatrick will head to the final round of the British Masters on Sunday with a one-stroke lead after posting a 4-under 68 on Saturday, raising hopes to become one of Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald’s picks.
The 30-year-old British had four birdies and two bogeys, but the fantastic eagle on the 15th left him under the age of 12 after three rounds.
Fitzpatrick holds a slim lead over Sweden’s Alex Noren (65) in second place. Marco Penge shot a course record 63 that lifted him into the third tie. Penge had nine birdies to sit Fitzpatrick’s two-shot drifting.
Rasmus hojgaard (69) is tied to 14th and will have to finish with a two-way tie in the tournament at least 29th in the tournament to score enough points to overtake Shane Rawley, who is stuck in 6th place on the list of automatic qualifying for European teams.
The top six will automatically enter the European team. Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert Macintyre and Tyrrell Hatton are already guaranteed to be in next month’s match at Bethpage Black.
Raleigh is not competing in the final event in qualifying, the British Masters, so he will not be able to earn Ryder Cup points. He is instead taking part in the PGA Tour end-of-season tour championship.
Donald will announce the six captain’s picks to complete a team of 12 on September 1st.
This report uses information from the Associated Press.
