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A standout from the Ryder Cup was knocked out of the BMW PGA Championship after three rounds, due to a rarely used SECOND CUT rule.
All 12 members of Team Europe, along with captain Luke Donald, took part at Wentworth this week in the last major tournament before heading to New York to face the USA.
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Unfortunately, officials from the DP World Tour had to invoke a seldom-used rule change.
After the first 36 holes, an impressive 86 players made it through the standard cut on Friday evening, with 26 players tied at two-under-par.
The Tournament Director can implement a secondary cut after the third round on Saturday to limit the field for the final day if more than 84 players qualify for the weekend.
This secondary cut is designed to ensure that no more than 78 players compete on Sunday.
This was the first instance of this little-known rule being applied on the DP World Tour since the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in 2023.
It guarantees that the leaders can start at 11:10 AM on Sunday, allowing enough time for a potential play-off and keeping within television schedules.
Sadly, this was not favorable news for Robert MacIntyre.
The committed Scot, who expressed his frustration by slamming his driver after a wayward tee shot on the sixth hole, missed out on a tee time for Sunday’s final round, joining 12 other players in missing the additional cut.
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His even-par 72 kept him at -2, sending him home alongside Alex Fitzpatrick and Niklas Norgaard, among others.
However, unlike the regular cut, the 13 golfers eliminated after Saturday remain eligible for both ranking points in the Race to Dubai and prize money from Wentworth.
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Tommy Fleetwood, coming off his first PGA Tour victory, narrowly qualified for Sunday at -3, with Rory McIlroy two strokes ahead.
Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, and Shane Lowry are at -7, while Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick are at -10.
Meanwhile, MacIntyre’s European teammates Viktor Hovland (-12) and Tyrrell Hatton (-13) will aim to close in on the leaders Alex Noren and Adrien Saddier, both at -15.
Ironically, Noren serves as a vice-captain for Donald at Bethpage Black in two weeks.
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Credit: Getty
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Credit: Getty
Ryder Cup Line-ups
Here are the players who will be competing in the Ryder Cup…
Team Europe
- Luke Donald (C)
- Shane Lowry
- Jon Rahm
- Sepp Straka
- Viktor Hovland
- Ludvig Aberg
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Rory McIlroy
- Robert MacIntyre
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Justin Rose
- Rasmus Hojgaard
- Tyrrell Hatton
Team USA
- Keegan Bradley (C)
- Justin Thomas
- Collin Morikawa
- Ben Griffin
- Cameron Young
- Patrick Cantley
- Sam Burns
- Scottie Scheffler
- JJ Spaun
- Xander Schauffele
- Russell Henley
- Harris English
- Bryson DeChambeau
