Hojgaard, 24, locked up one of six automatic spots on Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team that will compete Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black.

With Lowry’s destiny out of his own hands, Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard’s tied-13th place finish in the British Masters at The Belfry – won by Sweden’s Alex Noren – was sufficient to leapfrog him up to fifth place in the qualifying standings, moving ahead of Tyrrell Hatton, who secured the sixth automatic spot, and dropping Lowry to seventh.