Rasmus Hojgaard carded a 3-under 69 in Thursday’s opening round of the Betfred British Masters, putting himself in solid position to secure an automatic Ryder Cup spot.
The Danish golfer needs just a two-way tie for 29th or better at The Belfry to earn enough points to overtake Shane Lowry for the final automatic qualifying position. Lowry isn’t in the field this week, leaving the door wide open for Hojgaard.
After day one, Rasmus sits in a six-way tie for 12th place — a group that includes his twin brother, Nicolai. They’re three shots behind co-leaders Marcel Siem, Haotong Li, Matthias Schwab and Thomas Aiken, who all opened with 66s.
The European Ryder Cup picture is coming into focus. Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton have already locked up their spots for next month’s matches at Bethpage Black. That leaves just one automatic position up for grabs, with Lowry currently holding the sixth and final spot.
Captain Luke Donald will round out his 12-man squad with six captain’s picks, which he’ll announce on September 1. A strong showing this weekend would allow Rasmus to secure his place without needing one of those selections.
