The
Ryder Cup
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| | | Ryder
Cup may move to even years With
the Ryder Cup postponed until next September, the PGA of America met Monday to
figure out the future of the matches. Its chief executive said moving them to
even-numbered years would be the ``cleanest'' solution. ``We
want a highly competitive match, and we'll have that again,'' Jim Awtrey said
as he hurried between meetings at headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Awtrey
and PGA Tour officials were concerned that postponing the Ryder Cup, originally
scheduled for Sept. 28-30 at The Belfry in England, would lead to a glut of team
competitions in a short period of time. The
Presidents Cup is scheduled for Nov. 7-10, 2002, in South Africa, and the Ryder
Cup was to return to the United States at Oakland Hills outside Detroit in 2003.
Asked if moving
the Ryder Cup to even-numbered years would be ideal, Awtrey replied, ``It's the
cleanest thing we can possibly do now.'' ``To
combine three events in a 14-month period, I don't know if that's fair to the
players or if all the events can sustain the intensity they desire,'' he said.
PGA Tour spokesman
Bob Combs said an announcement was expected within a few days. The PGA Tour conducts
the Presidents Cup, biennial matches that began in 1994 between the United States
and players from everywhere in the world except Europe. U.S.
players began complaining two years ago that it was difficult to play in a team
event every year, while Europe and the rest of the world only had to play every
other year. Awtrey said he was working with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem
to move the Presidents Cup to odd-numbered years. ``That's
an important piece because players can't do everything at once,'' Awtrey said.
``We believe that will happen.'' The
PGA of America is in charge of the Ryder Cup, which has been played every other
year since 1927 except for a six-year break during World War II. Awtrey
said he found nothing wrong with moving the Ryder Cup to even-numbered years,
``not if the alternative is canceling.'' ``Playing
the matches and dealing with long-term changes is more important than canceling
them and having that reflect as an act of terrorism,'' he said. Along
with schedules, the PGA of America and European Ryder Cup officials began sorting
through financial ramifications. The
hotel industry near Birmingham, England, has lost about $24 million in business,
although it hoped to recoup that next year when the matches are played. Most hotels
had been booked for months. The
PGA of America made $23 million off the matches in 1999 when they were played
outside Boston. European officials were expected to make a profit of about $16
million this year, some of which already had been built into the budget. ``There's
a significant economic impact on both sides and we're dealing with those business
issues,'' Awtrey said. ``But in no time did business issues override the decision
(to postpone), or we would have played.'' Awtrey
said there was not one critical element that swayed the decision, but suggested
that transportation of players and fans weighed heavily. ``Business
as usual is playing golf, getting on with the NFL,'' he said. ``Business as usual
is not yet people heading for the international terminal in airports. In the end,
there was too much involved in moving people out of the U.S. when everybody else
was trying to get in.'' He
said Tiger Woods' decision to pull out of the Lancome Trophy in Paris this week
had no bearing on postponing the Ryder Cup. AP
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Woods posted a statement on his Website (tigerwoods.com) that the PGA
of America made the ``safest'' decision. ``I
definitely think it's the right decision, especially with retaliation imminent,''
he said. ``The last thing you want to do is get caught in Europe.'' The
wife of Scott Verplank, the first Ryder Cup rookie to be a captain's pick, said
she had planned to stay home even if the matches were held. ``It's
a sad deal, but I don't know if I'd be at peace with him going over there,'' Kim
Verplank told The Daily Oklahoman. ``The selfish part of me would ask him not
to play. But it's something he's worked his whole life for. I'm glad I didn't
have to ask.'' One
of the European rookies, Phillip Price of Wales, wondered what kind of game the
Americans could have brought with them to England, especially with the terrorist
attacks still tangible ``In
years gone by, the Ryder Cup has had quite a competitive environment,'' Price
said. ``I've got a feeling that, if we'd gone ahead, America probably wouldn't
have contributed to quite the competitiveness.'' Six
Ryder Cup players plus captain Curtis Strange were scheduled to play the Pennsylvania
Classic this week outside Pittsburgh, about 15 miles from where one of the hijacked
airliners crashed into a field. The
PGA Tour was working on plans to have a Ryder Cup ceremony a week from Tuesday
before the Texas Open in San Antonio.
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International, in association with Ryder Cup, sponsors Golf Today
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