BIRMINGHAM, England — Rasmus Hojgaard shot a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Betfred British Masters on Thursday as the Danish golfer started his bid to clinch an automatic place on Europe’s team for the Ryder Cup.

Hojgaard needs to finish in a two-way tie for 29th or better in the tournament being held at The Belfry to earn enough points to overtake Shane Lowry, who is clinging onto sixth place in the list of automatic qualifiers.

Hojgaard is currently in a tie with five other players — including his twin brother, Nicolai — for 12th place, three shots off the lead shared by Marcel Siem, Haotong Li, Matthias Schwab and Thomas Aiken.

The top six get into the European team automatically. Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton are already guara

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