SUTTON COLDFIELD, ENGLAND | It is all but impossible to spend a week at The Belfry, site of last week’s Betfred British Masters, and not be reminded that it was the site of Europe’s Ryder Cup renaissance in the 1980s.
There are plaques commemorating great shots, rooms and bars renamed in honour of heroes, and even a sense that friendly ghosts tread the fairways.
Because no European can stand alongside the short par-4 10th and not think of Severiano Ballesteros driving the green. Or to stroll down 18 and not think of Christy O’Connor biffing his 2-iron approach to 4 feet. Or hear echoes of the deep-throated roars which greeted balls that found putting surfaces during Europe’s successes.
Where better, then, to conclude Europe’s period of qualification for this year’s continental collision at Bethpage Black in New York? True, five places had already been secured (by Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton), but the sixth automatic berth remained up for grabs and only points accrued in the British Masters would count, much to the surprise of the man in sixth place, Shane Lowry.
“I only found out about that Monday,” he admitted as he prepared to tee it up nearer Birmingham, Alabama, than Birmingham in the West Midlands, at East Lake Golf Club in the Tour Championship. “I thought I was guaranteed getting points this week. I thought I was going to be pretty much guaranteed on the team. I was somewhat disappointed to hear that. But the rules were made at the start of qualifying, and that was it.”
Only Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard could overhaul Lowry and to do so he needed a two-way tie for 29th place or better which, for a man who had finished second the previous week and won at The Belfry in 2020, always looked a likely scenario.
That said, a clumsy bogey at that famed 10th hole in the final round prompted a few back-nine wobbles before he confirmed his Ryder Cup debut with a share of 13th.
“The most stressful round of my life,” Højgaard admitted afterwards. “Knowing what was at stake, I was battling some thoughts, and I would have felt pretty bad if I hadn’t completed the job so I’m very proud.”
“I’m very happy that I experienced the match up close in Rome and saw how tough it is on the players. It’s going to be amazing.”
Rasmus Højgaard
And what of the irony that the prize for passing this test is to experience tension on another level entirely?
“It’s going to be very, very stressful, even more stressful than today, but that’s part of it,” he insisted. “I’m very happy that I experienced the match up close in Rome and saw how tough it is on the players. It’s going to be amazing.”
With that Højgaard was whisked away to take a call with European captain Luke Donald, who wisely invited him to ride a buggy two years ago in Rome – Højgaard’s twin brother, Nicolai, was part of the winning European team at Marco Simone – a decision that has been returned with interest.
With Team Europe half a dozen down, another six golfers will receive captain’s wildcards after this week’s Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland. Victory there in 2023 for Ludvig Åberg persuaded Donald that the Swede was worth a pick, but this year’s pretenders need to be warned that the European skipper was also convinced he was dealing with a generational talent rather than a fellow merely in good nick.
It is widely believed Donald will turn to Åberg, Viktor Hovland and Sepp Straka (all of them PGA Tour winners this year, the latter on two occasions), Jon Rahm and Matthew Fitzpatrick (both two-time major championship top-10 finishers in 2025), and Lowry (who has twice finished second this year).
Harry Hall, Marco Penge and Nicolai Højgaard will all hope to crash the party, but inexperience counts against the first two and the Dane has probably achieved too little, too late. It might be his turn to steer the buggy, a role reversal he’d presumably find easier to take on the chin than any other golfer given that the man replacing him shares the same genes.
If, ultimately, the only change from Rome is in the identity of the twins it would be the most remarkably subtle alteration of a lineup in Ryder Cup history.
What then of the British Masters itself? Rasmus said that his mental state was that of someone in contention while Nicolai was literally in that position, two shots clear at one stage in the final round. Nicolai looked set to complete a family double of sorts, but the birdies were coming thick and fast for the chasers, and he couldn’t quite maintain the pace.
He did equal a clubhouse target of 15-under 273 set by the Kiwi Kazuma Kobori, but Sweden’s Alex Norén went one better to claim the title for a second time, nine years after the first at The Grove near London.
The 43-year-old damaged the hamstring tendon in his sit bone which prevented him running, jumping or hitting balls for seven months either side of New Year. In his second start back, at the PGA Championship in May, he headed into the final round in second place before finishing in a share of 17th.
He ended the PGA Tour season with back-to-back top-10 finishes yet, despite this further proof of his good form, he is not expecting a call from Donald.
“I’ve only played, what is it, 10 tournaments since my injury, so I’m not expecting anything like that,” he said. “I’m just focusing on my game and trying to play like this more often.”
“In the past I treated it like a football match or like a fight mode and I don’t think that works for me.”
Alex Norén
The victory – his 11th on the DP World Tour – was his first in seven years but veteran wiles were key as the opposition went low.
“I’ve played this game long enough to understand that you just have to play good golf and it’s not about trying to overtake somebody,” he said. “In the past I treated it like a football match or like a fight mode and I don’t think that works for me.”
On the one hand, he insisted he hasn’t changed: “I still want to get better, better than I have been in the past.”
On the other, he admits there are differences. He was always someone who knew no alternative but to deep dive into a new hobby.
Photography, blogging, lifting weights – all of them became obsessions, but now?
“Gardening,” he said with a relaxed smile. “Yes, I admit it. I’ve changed. I’m getting older. But I still love golf and not being able to play it made me realise that. Competing on Sunday matters to me and it’s great fun.”
So is winning.
Norén was also delighted to hear that Hojgaard, his playing partner during the first two days, had confirmed his place at Bethpage. He provided insight into just what emotions the debutant will encounter.
“I think I started crying after my first win in Paris [in 2018],” he said. “I’ve never done that before so the Ryder Cup does funny things to you.”
Matt Cooper