Players have ‘no desire’ to alter Ryder Cup format

RYDER Cup organisers were put under no pressure from players or captains to make radical changes for the 2014 match at Gleneagles, it was revealed yesterday.

As talks took place about the dates for the match in Perthshire, it had been suggested that the traditional format could be extended to make it the first scheduled four-day encounter in the event’s history.

Also mooted was the possibility of the match schedule being changed to allow all 24 players to be involved throughout instead of the two captains having to sit out players from the fourballs and foursomes.

It has been confirmed, however, that the first Ryder Cup to be held in Scotland for more than 40 years will take place over three days – 26-28 September – and it will also see Europe and the United States continue to compete for 28 points.

“It will be a traditional format,” said Richard Hills, European Ryder Cup director. “We did not consider the match being extended to four days and, at the moment, it’s not on the radar. An element of that, I suppose, is commercial, but there’s been no desire from the players to change it .”

Colin Montgomerie, the winning European captain at Celtic Manor last year, hinted he would like to see players involved throughout the match after they had put in so much hard work to qualify for their respective teams.

According to Hills, though, the two men who will be the opposing captains at Medinah next September, Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal, believe the format is fine as it is.

“Davis, along with Jose Maria, has spoken about how he is in favour of it being a three-day match,” added Hills during a press conference at Gleneagles. “He also commented on how it adds to the skills of the captaincy having to sit four guys on the bench, so to speak, and there’s been no cause to change what we’ve got.”

The match at Gleneagles will be a week earlier than the one in Wales, where it spilt over to a fourth day after heavy rain wiped out long spells of play on both the Friday and Sunday.

If required, there will be provision for an extra day at Gleneagles, where the water-filled bunkers and flooded greens must have made for uncomfortable viewing yesterday. But both Hills and First Minister Alex Salmond are confident the weather will not cause problems on the selected dates, which have been determined by events such as the FedEx Cup in America.

“The international schedule is complex, but this is a traditional date for the match and very similar to the date in 1973, when it was played at Muirfield,” said Hills. “The weather can have an effect at any time of the year, but we are very comfortable with the date we’ve got.” Salmond, who was also at yesterday’s press conference for the 40th staging of the biennial event, added: “The weather statistics here are great for September over the last 20 years. This year the average temperature was 23 degrees on those three days, balmy sunshine!”

It has also been announced that drinks company Diageo, which owns the five-star Gleneagles resort, is the latest official partner for the 2014 event, joining BMW, Rolex and KPMG.

“The first discussion about the Ryder Cup [being held at Gleneagles] started in the late 80s, just outside here, and I’m delighted to reach the stage where we can name the date,” said Peter Lederer, chairman of Gleneagles Hotel.

“It’s ten years this year since the bid was successful and now it’s great to announce our partner status. Johnnie Walker has been an official sponsor of the Ryder Cup three times and supported Scottish golf at the Johnnie Walker Championship, as well as the Bell’s Scottish Open, going back to 1986.”