Motivated Matt Fitzpatrick hopes to have the final Belfry say as the Ryder Cup fight reaches fever pitch. And Danish star Rasmus Hojgaard also has Bethpage firmly on his mind as the battle for spots to face the USA roars towards a thrilling crescendo in front of European skipper Luke Donald at the Betfred British Masters. Hopefuls Marco Penge and Nicolai Hojgaard, a hero of Rome two years ago and twin brother of Rasmus, are also forwarding drives for New York with terrific showings in the Midlands. Fitzpatrick heads the pack on 12-under with a round to go having answered the call from Donald to make the trip. Having failed to reach the Tour Championship in Atlanta, the Sheffield star took on the challenge from his captain of a trip back to their homeland to push his claims for a Bethpage pick. And Fitzpatrick is delivering as he sits one ahead with 18 holes to go having moved into pole position to repeat his title win of 10 years ago at the event. Crucially, success will also push those Ryder Cup claims and he explained: “Obviously, Luke asked me to come after a conversation we had last weekend and, given where my head was at and schedule had been, trying to chase my PGA Tour Top 50. “The goal when I entered here was to come and make a case for myself as well. So three good rounds so far and, hopefully, can carry that on. It’d be amazing. To do it 10 years apart would be pretty cool too, I think. I’m just looking forward to the opportunity. I was thinking as I was out there that it’s just really enjoyable to be in these situations. Scottie Scheffler must be absolutely buzzing every week! “But it’s really nice to obviously be in contention, playing solid and give yourself a chance of winning. I’m just happy with where my game’s at at the minute. I’m just trying to be really patient, not force it. I would say my confidence is high, but it’s obviously important to still keep my expectations as low as possible as well. That’s kind of the best balance. “I think just the experience of being in the position over and over. I know I’ve done it plenty of times now, to be in final groups, to be in contention, having that experience, knowing how it goes. I always feel like it’s nice being in the last group. You get to have the final say. You kind of know what’s going on ahead of you and you can manage your day like that.” Fitzpatrick has recovered from his lowest ebb earlier in the year to post four Top 10s in his last six events and display his form with Donald as he now sits in line to land a first title in almost two years. But he’s not alone in showcasing to Donald with Penge shooting a sizzling Saturday 63 to equal the course record and further back-up two wins on Tour this term. Penge is tied in third spot with Nicolai Hojgaard, who gave notice he’s also in good shape to back-up his Rome appearance, with Scotland’s crack amateur Cameron Adam and England’s Matt Wallace, who is also chasing a Bethpage berth, joint-fifth on nine-under. Penge fancies it and said: “That has been my goal ever since I felt I had the chance to be in the mix to be even talked about. I sensed a couple of weeks ago that there was an opportunity. I wasn’t meant to play last week [in Denmark] and the reason I did was to have more events to prove something. “Winning there was great, but at the end of the day, it is not up to me. I am just trying to play good golf whatever the outcome is. At the start of this year I was never in this position so if they want to take me then great but if not I’ll just carry on.” It’s Nicolai’s sibling Rasmus, who Penge trumped in Denmark last weekend, who holds the strongest cards in terms of an automatic pick. Needing to finish tied-29th or better to leapfrog Shane Lowry into the automatic top six once the qualification is completed at the conclusion of the tournament, he starts Sunday in position in a share for 14th place. Hojgaard said: "I know what position I need to finish. But what that means score-wise, I don't know. It's not something I'm going to look too much into. I'm still hopefully within reach of the tournament, So my focus is still to try and chase down and have a chance." Sweden’s Alex Noren is one behind Fitzpatrick in second, but, although he has Ryder Cup experience, Bethpage is not on his mind as he fights to regain his best after seven months out of the qualification race through injury. He said: “I haven’t played enough of those tournaments with the big boys. I’m not really thinking about that, actually. It’s nice to get back to playing good. That’s all I’m trying to do.”