Bob MacIntyre's qualification for Europe’s Ryder Cup team offered him little immediate consolation after he blew a four-shot lead to lose the BMW Championship to world number one Scottie Scheffler.
The Scot’s hopes of victory in the penultimate FedEx Cup play-off event were eventually extinguished when Scheffler chipped in for an unlikely birdie at the 17th to give himself a two-stroke lead going down the last.
A second-place finish not only moved MacIntyre into the world’s top 10 – he is now eighth – for the first time but also left only Rory McIlroy ahead of him in Europe’s team standings.
That secured his place at Bethpage next month, with the Northern Irishman and England’s Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood already qualified, to play in a second successive Ryder Cup but he was furious walking off the Caves Valley course in Maryland.
Asked what improvements he felt he needed to make the left-hander said: "I mean, right now, not a clue. Right now I want to go and smash up my golf clubs, to be honest with you. I’m just really p***ed off right now."
Shane Lowry occupies the one remaining automatic place heading into the final week of qualification. The Offaly golfer who moved into the top six on the European list at the expense of Sepp Straka who pulled out of the BMW Championship for personal reasons.
Lowry had his best round of the week with a 67 on Sunday to finish tied-23rd and enter the season finale in 24th spot in the FedEx Cup standings.
Tyrrell Hatton has locked in the fifth spot while LIV Golf colleague Jon Rahm, who won the breakaway series’ individual title for a second successive year on Sunday, is set to be selected.
But Rahm’s place in 23rd on the list means one player who would ordinarily expect to be given a captain’s pick after finishing in the top-12 is going to miss out.
Straka, Rasmus Hojgaard – set to replace twin Nicolai from Rome two years ago – Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland occupy positions seven to 10.
Matt Wallace, who narrowly missed selection in 2018 and 2023, is 11th but just 19 points ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick, who is making a rare appearance on the DP World Tour at this week’s last qualifying event the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry.
The Sheffield golfer missed out on a place on the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship for the top 30 on the FedEx points list but looks set to receive the backing of Donald who will most likely head to the United States with 11 of his victorious team from two years ago and swapping out one Hojgaard twin for the other.
United States’ Keegan Bradley still has a decision to make on whether he will become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1962 when he makes his selections next week.
The world number 13 dropped a place to 11th in the USA team rankings after the BMW Championship, after which the automatic selection of Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau was confirmed as joining Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and JJ Spaun.
Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Bradley and Brian Harman currently make up the top 12 with Andrew Novak, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns hoping the captain will choose not to play and therefore make a spot available for one of them instead.
