With only two weeks left in the qualification window, Thorbjorn Olesen is now in position to make his Ryder Cup debut.
Olesen finished alone in fourth place at the Nordea Masters, two shots out of a playoff between Thomas Aiken and eventual winner Paul Waring. Olesen carded four straight sub-70 rounds in Sweden, including a final-round 67 that featured three birdies over his final seven holes.
It’s a tight race for the fourth and final Ryder Cup spot via the World Points list, and Olesen’s showing this week will allow him to move past Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, both of whom didn’t play this week, into the No. 4 slot. Olesen is now also less than 40,000 Euros behind Tommy Fleetwood to qualify via the European Points list.
Full-field scores from the Nordea Masters
The top four players from both lists on Sept. 2 will qualify for next month’s matches, with captain Thomas Bjorn rounding out the roster with four selections on Sept. 4. Poulter and Casey will both have a chance to move back in front next week at The Northern Trust, while the final qualifying week will include the PGA Tour event at TPC Boston and Olesen headlining the field in his homeland at the Made in Denmark.
Even if Olesen fails to qualify automatically for Paris, the 28-year-old continues to bolster his credentials for a possible pick from his countryman, Bjorn. Olesen won the Italian Open in June, finished second at the BMW International Open three weeks later and has now compiled four top-12 finishes over his last five worldwide starts including a T-3 result at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational earlier this month.
In addition to the players who fail to qualify from the Olesen-Poulter-Casey trio, other candidates for Bjorn’s quartet of picks will likely include major champions Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson.
Source: Internet
