golf in DUBAi's Fitzpatrick books Ryder Cup spot

Joy Chakravarty 11:48 22/08/2016
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  • Fitzpatrick has had a sensational 12 months.

    England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, a ‘golf in DUBAi’ ambassador, continued his remarkable rise by all but locking up a spot in captain Darren Clarke’s European Ryder Cup team which will take on the United States in Hazeltine in the last week of September.

    The 21-year-old from Sheffield finished fifth at the D+D REAL Czech Masters in Prague on Sunday. He could have been denied if Thomas Pieters won the tournament, but the Belgian agonisingly fell short by one shot to American Paul Petersen.

    The qualification race officially ends with this week’s Made in Denmark tournament, but Englishman Andy Sullivan and Fitzpatrick are assured of making their Ryder Cup debuts courtesy of being eighth and ninth respectively on the World Points List.

    Scotland’s Russell Knox, who is 10th in the list, is not playing in Denmark this week and No11, Soren Kjeldsen, will be unable to win enough points to go past Fitzpatrick, even if he secures the title in front of his home crowd.

    And Fitzpatrick, who turned professional in 2014 and did not have any status on the European Tour when the last Ryder Cup was played in Gleneagles, said: “It’s very exciting now. We can look forward to it and get my game in shape.

    “I’ve probably been in the team for the longest period of time. It started a few weeks before I won at the British Masters and jumped into the team and I’ve managed to stay there since then. It’s been absolutely phenomenal and I’m just delighted to be in the team.

    “It’s a great opportunity, I’ve got my first one coming up and hopefully I can just keep pushing on my game and getting better.”

    Fitzpatrick impressed with ten top-10 finishes in his rookie season last year, which included his first win at the British Masters, which moved him into the qualifying places in October. He also won the Nordea Masters earlier in 2016.

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