Shane Lowry was steady without firing on all cylinders in the first round of the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, the final event of the FedEx Cup playoffs with a $10 million pay-day to the ultimate winner in the limited 30-man field.
The Offaly man had a round of 70, featuring two birdies and two bogeys, in the PGA Tour’s finale in a tournament which doesn’t offer him any Ryder Cup points as that European qualifying process finishes at the British Masters on Sunday.
Lowry, currently sixth and occupying the final automatic place, has his focus on the Tour Championship aware that his Ryder Cup automatic qualifying largely depends on what happens in the English midlands where Rasmus Hojgaard has the chance to leapfrog him. If that happens, Lowry will require a wild card pick.
In the British Masters at The Belfry, Hojgaard – currently eighth in the European Ryder Cup standings and needing a tied-29th finish or better to overtake Lowry – carded an opening round 69 to sit in tied-12th, three stokes behind a quartet of co-leaders.
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Thomas Aiken, Matthias Schwab, Haotong Li and Marcel Siem all signed for six-under-par 66s in the tournament which marks the conclusion of the year-long qualifying for Luke Donald’s team to face the Americans at Bethpage in New York next month.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who can’t claim an automatic place on Donald’s team even with a win, is hoping to be in the frame for a wild card pick from the captain: “I’ve done a lot of good stuff in the summer that I’m sure he’s (Donald) seen as well, and hopefully that makes the majority of it.”
“This week obviously is another opportunity to play well, that’s why I’m here, to do that. And then obviously to get off to a good start is always nice and hopefully keep on. I think everyone at home knows what the Ryder Cup means. It means the world to be part of it.
“It’s normally the first thing – outside of winning a major, it’s the first thing on a goal sheet at the start of every year of a Ryder Cup. I obviously want to be there. It’s a great opportunity to do something that’s not been done in a long time (to win away), and to be part of that would be special,” said Fitzpatrick, who opened with a 67 to sit one off the pace.
Meanwhile, Dermot McElroy, who has endured a tough season on the Hotelplanner Tour, finally turned things around with a bogey-free 66 to claim the first round lead in the Dutch Futures at Spijk.
McElroy has yet to win on the European pathway circuit and, currently ranked 94th in the Race to Mallorca standings, is aiming for a strong finish to the season with six events left ahead of the Rolex Grand Final.
“A good week here would be huge,” said McElroy, who took a one-shot lead over Euan Walker and Nathan Legendre. “To be honest, I’ve played terrible all year barring one good result. I’ve been practising really hard all season, and I’m really pleased with how I am starting to hit the ball.”
