Ryder Cup race: And then there were five.........

With 36 holes of golf remaining before captain Luke Donald finalises his European Ryder Cup team, there are five players still with a chance to play their way to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

With one spot left on each of the World and European Points Lists to play for, we take a look at the last men standing and what they need to do over the weekend in Switzerland.

World Points List

Matt Fitzpatrick

The 2022 U.S. Open champion is the only player in the field who can dislodge Tommy Fleetwood on the List should he finish in a tie for seventh with one other or better. Considering in his six appearances up the mountain he has two wins, a top seven and another top ten, the Englishman will have arrived full of confidence and nothing so far this week will have dented that. He followed up an opening 63 with a 65 on day two to sit one shot clear of Alexander Björk at the top of the leaderboard.

European Points List

Robert MacIntyre

The man to catch. His stunning charge to second at the Genesis Scottish Open saw him dislodge Yannik Paul in third place and like Fitzpatrick, he entered the week entirely with his fate in his own hands, knowing a win would see him over the line and his rivals would need third or better to displace him. The Scot was hovering around the cutline down the stretch and maybe knew it was his day when he sent his tee-shot a long way right at the 14th but it bounced from the bushes into the rough off a fence. A birdie at the 16th gave him breathing space but he bogeyed the next and had to get up and down on the last for a par to make the cut on the line. He is still the man to catch and vitally after making the weekend, has the chance to rack up some more points.

"I’m happy with the way I fought," he said. "I missed so many putts. I was trying not to count it on the way round, but every green I hit I was missing a putt from inside ten feet. I was fighting for the cutline coming up the last there and hopefully just managed to sneak over the line. The heart was going a little bit. I had missed so many putts, I was standing there thinking about all sorts. But I’ve fought the last two weeks and I’ve got a weekend to fight for again, so that’s what I’ll do. The last two Thursday/Friday draws have been difficult with the mind and everything that has been going on, it’s been tough. But over the weekends I can free myself up and let rip with the golf course. I did well last weekend, and the course is there for the taking, so why not this weekend?"

Yannik Paul

Another player in control of his destiny at the start of the week, Paul knows a victory will send him to Rome but the margins are tight, with him needing a tie for third with two others or better to have any chance at all. An opening 64 meant he was in little danger of missing the cut but he did well to recover from a bogey on the first and a double on the fourth with birdies on the sixth, 14th and 15th. He dropped a shot on the 17th to sign for a 71 but is still MacIntyre's nearest challenger.

Adrian Meronk

The next man on the List and the first who knew that he could miss out even with a victory this week. He needs a tie for second with one other to have a chance and he remarkably temporarily overtook MacIntyre on Friday with a stunning run of scoring. When he made his eighth birdie of the day on the 14th he was in the Ryder Cup box-seat and another birdie on the next had him top of the leaderboard. But a bogey on the 17th cut his lead over MacIntyre to a miniscule 3.47 points and when he lost a ball on the last for a double-bogey, he was back behind both the Scot and Paul.

Adrian Otaegui

The Spaniard entered the week needing a win to have any chance and while he made the cut on the mark with a second-round 68, he will need an astonishing turn of events from nine shots off the lead and needing favours from his rivals.

Rasmus Højgaard and Victor Perez also entered the week with a chance of qualifying but they will now have to hope for a pick after missing the cut.