The Ladies' European Tour have opened discussions with both the BBC and
their American counterparts, the LPGA Tour, to bring the 2000 Solheim
Cup match at Loch Lomond in Scotland forward from October 6-8 to a
late-August date.
The tour's chief executive Tim Howland was angered when he discovered
that next year's World Match Play Championship had been switched by the
organisers so that it clashed with the biennial match between the
leading women professionals of Europe and the United States.
The BBC, who have covered the World Match Play for some 35 years, felt
obliged to stick with the men's event, leaving the Solheim Cup without
the terrestrial TV exposure which the LET believe it needs to attract
more sponsors and media attention.
LET spokesman Terence O'Rorke said: "When we learned of the World Match
Play's switch of dates, it seemed there was no chance of the Solheim Cup
being screened on the BBC because we had already agreed the dates with
the LPGA.
"But Tim has been talking recently to both the LPGA Tour's commissioner
Ty Votaw and the BBC, and it seems there is the possibility of a date in
late August.
As things stand, the LPGA have announced their schedule for
the first third of 2000, plus all the major dates, but nothing else. So
we are quite optimistic.
"One way or the other, we hope we will know the outcome of this quite
soon."
