IF Europe’s Ryder Cup team was being named today by captain José Maria Olazábal there would be a surprise inclusion – England’s Tommy Fleetwood.

The 20-year-old from Southport’s best-ever finish on the European Tour is only 20th and he is 214th in the world, but he occupies the 10th and last qualifying position at the moment because of his victory in the Challenge Tour’s Kazakhstan Open on Sunday.

It earned Fleetwood 12 world rankings points, the same as Scot Gary Orr received for fourth place in the main tour’s KLM Open.

Most importantly for the former Walker Cup player, he now leads the Challenge Tour rankings and is all set to step up a level next season.

Last year, of course, Italian Edoardo Molinari made the Ryder Cup team after starting the qualifying race as a Challenge Tour player.