With the PGA Tour on hiatus following the season-ending Tour Championship, the world’s attention turns to the Omega European Masters at the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre GC in Crans Montana, Switzerland.
The most compelling storyline of the event in the Swiss Alps is the battle for spots on the European team for the upcoming Ryder Cup in Rome. The qualifiers for Europe are finalised after this tournament.
The European team is similar to the US squad in that it takes six automatic qualifiers and six captain’s picks, which will be chosen by skipper Luke Donald on Monday September 4.
But there’s a difference. Europe’s six qualifiers are broken down into three qualifiers on European points and three on world points. This is designed to fairly recognise those who play solely in Europe and those who play on the PGA Tour.
At the Omega Masters, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre currently holds third place (the last spot) on the European points, but the lefty has Germany’s Yannik Paul, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, France’s Victor Perez and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui snapping at his heels. On the world points vertical, TommyFleetwood currently sits third but with 186.9 points he could be overtaken by Matt Fitzpatrick (186.8) in Switzerland.
For updates on the European team developments and world ranking, follow the expert Nosferatu on Twitter
The finish in the Alps could get very interesting come Sunday night (AEST).
Just two Australians are in the field in Switzerland. Perth native Jason Scrivener shot an opening round of two under par (68) to sit five shots behind a tie for the lead at seven under. New South Welshman Blake Windred sat in last place at seven over nearing completion of his round.
