Lowry falls out of Ryder Cup places after FedEx horror show
Lowry finished tied for 59th out of 69 golfers at the opening FedEx Cup Playoff in Memphis on Sunday.
Heading into last week, the 38-year-old was fifth on the Ryder Cup Team Europe rankings, with only the top six automatically qualifying for the event. Shane Lowry had a poor display in Memphis. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Lowry has now slipped down to seventh place after his poor showing in Tennessee.
What hasn't helped Lowry's chances is that Justin Rose put on a stunning show to claim victory at the St Jude Championship following a tense three-hole playoff with JJ Spaun.
Rose delivered a fantastic run of four birdies in the closing five holes before defeating the US national in the playoff.
The 45-year-old's victory means that he has mathematically secured his automatic qualifying spot, sitting in second only behind Rory McIlroy.
Tommy Fleetwood will be disappointed that he didn't come away with the victory in Memphis after leading by five strokes after 36 holes.
While his wait for a PGA Tour win continues, Fleetwood has joined McIlroy and Rose in securing an automatic Ryder Cup qualification.
Robert MacIntyre has fallen from second to fourth place in the rankings but holds a healthy lead over his fellow European hopefuls.
Tyrell Hatton fell one place into fifth but it was Sepp Straka's decent showing that has pushed Lowry out of the top six altogether. Lowry has fallen out of the Team Europe top six. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Lowry will be hoping to be one of the six captain picks that Luke Donald will have at his disposal but his recent form could worry the European skipper.
The Offaly native has slumped ten places on the OWGR ladder after finishing tied for second at the Truist Championship in May.
Lowry currently sits 18th in the rankings.
However, there's a silver lining for the Irishman as he's already into this week's BMW Championship at Caves Valley.
The field is down to just the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the season's final that will see only the top 30 progress to the Tour Championship at East Lake.
The final event for Ryder Cup points will be the Betfred British Masters, which finishes on August 24.
Meanwhile, JJ Spaun's runner-up finish in Memphis means that he has now mathematically qualified for the US Ryder Cup team.
Spaun joins Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele on Keegan Bradley's team ahead of the event in New York at the end of September.
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