Frustration for Ryder Cup hopefuls Lowry and Harrington in Prague

Sami Välimäki. Picture: Getty Images

Shane Lowry's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Ryder Cup suffered an early reverse in the D+D Real Czech Masters in Prague.

The Offaly man likely needs a win and another top finish to avoid needing a wildcard from captain Luke Donald.

But while he birdied four of his first five holes at Albatross Golf Resort, he hit just one fairway and made three back-nine bogeys en route to one-under 71.

That left him outside the cut line, tied for 72nd with Pádraig Harrington (51), who was already playing down his chances of a wildcard.

"I just don't think it is realistic with two events left in the qualification process," Harrington said in a player blog on the European Tour website. "I don't even think a win would get me in. Maybe a dominant win this week or a win and another good performance in the final event in Switzerland might."

Harrington was three-under through 11 holes and might have been better but for several missed chances before he double-bogeyed the par-five 12th and followed a birdie at the 17th with a three-putt bogey at the last.

While Kinsale's John Murphy opened with a 70 to share 46th with Ryder Cup hopeful Rasmus Hojgaard, Lowry and Harrington were eight strokes behind Finland's Sami Valimaki, who fired a nine-under 63 to lead by two from Ryo Hisatsune, Maximilian Schmitt, Alexander Bjork, Nicolai Hojgaard and Todd Clements.

Valimaki, who won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award in 2020, started with five consecutive birdies as he raced into the lead in the Czech capital.

After making the turn five under, he recorded four further gains to sign for a bogey-free 63, his lowest round since signing for a 62 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Robert MacIntyre, who occupies the final available Ryder Cup qualification place on the European Points list, shares seventh place with Yannik Paul as the pair bid for a debut Ryder Cup appearance at Marco Simone.

Paul is just 90 points behind MacIntyre on the European Points list, with this week being the penultimate qualifying event.

Joining them on six under par are Ryder Cup Vice Captain Edoardo Molinari and Manu Gandas of India.

Player Quotes

Sami Välimäki: “I wasn’t sure what was coming up and I had three good wedges, a little bit of a longer putt on hole one – it was nice to start like that.

“I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t make a third (62 in the season). I was just flowing. When you start putting good and hitting it good, you just keep going and enjoy the round.

"Last time (I was here) I missed the cut by a lot of shots, so I didn’t have big expectations for the week. It’s nice to start this way.”

Alexander Björk: “It was solid. Coming from four weeks at home, you never really know how the game is. But I thought it was good all day and I made a few extra birdies on the last four holes to make it even better. A good start.

“I hit a lot of good iron shots, was solid off the tee and okay on the greens. But my irons were the best part.”

Ryo Hisatsune: “It’s such a surprise for me after three weeks off without tournaments. I made a lot of birdies, a lot of putts, I’m so, so happy. I hit a perfect shot (on 18) and six-foot to make a birdie, I was lucky.

“It was relaxing being off, I had a few changes in the swing. But a good start, a lot of good shots. It was fun playing today.”

Nicolai Højgaard: “We all know you can make birdies on this course, but you still have to go out and do it. The wind is quite tough. It’s switching around the whole day. It’s not easy to do but if you get on a run it’s a course you can make a lot of birdies on. You go out and stay patient because it’s so important on a course like this. With four par fives, you can make birdies or eagles with good shots. It’s a scoreable course and I expect low scoring the next few days as well.”

Max Schmitt: “It was a really good day. I was driving it nicely, putting it nicely, only two dropped shots. Quite nice.

“If you hit a good drive into the par fives it makes them easy because you can almost reach every single one of them – except nine. I was driving it nicely, hitting good iron shots and set up quite a decent amount of birdies.

At the Challenge Tour's Dormy Open in Sweden, Conor O'Rourke's five-under 62 left him tied for second, a shot behind Rikard Karlberg.

Meanwhile, former Masters champions Adam Scott and Danny Willett will play the Horizon Irish Open at The K Club from September 7-10.