Uncertainty in the World Led to Ryder Cup Delay

The Ryder Cup could not have gone on as scheduled next week in England, if only because of immense security problems, according to the chief executive officer of the PGA of America.

Jim Awtrey said Monday that although it is difficult to rank the other factors that led to Sunday’s decision to postpone the event, it was ultimately made because of “the uncertain state of the world.”

The 34th Ryder Cup matches are tentatively scheduled for Sept. 27-29, 2002, at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England.

Awtrey said officials at the Belfry have cleared the dates, but that the PGA Tour and the European PGA Tour have not signed off on the new plan.

There also is speculation that the PGA Tour would prefer to play its Presidents Cup in 2002, as scheduled, instead of moving it to 2003, which reportedly was in the works. That would mean the World Golf Championship/American Express tournament in Ireland would be followed a week later by the Ryder Cup and then the Presidents Cup five weeks later in South Africa.

“It depends on what [PGA Tour Commissioner] Tim [Finchem] is able to do with the Presidents Cup,” Awtrey said.

Such a plan would also keep the Presidents Cup scheduled for even-numbered years and the Ryder Cup in odd-numbered years. The next U.S. Ryder Cup, set for 2003 in Birmingham, Mich., was to have been moved to 2004, but would remain on schedule if the Presidents Cup stays in 2002.

“I’m leery of going back-to-back,” Awtrey said of playing the Ryder Cup in 2002 and again in 2003.

Awtrey said there has been no negative reaction to the decision to postpone the matches for the only time in their 74-year history, other than World War II.

“Obviously, this is unprecedented, so you feel like you’re recycling everything in your mind,” he said. “But the bottom line, every day you get up and the world is in a state of flux. In the end, we were given the uncertain state of the world.”

Financial losses suffered by the European Ryder Cup group could conceivably be made up next year. In the last Ryder Cup, in 1999 at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass., the PGA of America reportedly cleared $67 million, the most on any tournament in the history of golf.

However, box office receipts were not high on the list of priorities in deciding to postpone this month’s Ryder Cup.

Awtrey pointed to the unique format of the U.S. versus Europe as a troubling aspect, not to mention the venue.

“We were not an American sporting event, like two major league baseball teams playing in a stadium over here,” he said. “We would have 1,000 people and leave the U.S. when people are trying to get home and be with their families and reflect.

“And it just didn’t seem possible to put all that together and play the Ryder Cup. It wouldn’t be the Ryder Cup. It would be an event, an exhibition of support for America. A year from now, you will see the real sense of what it’s about.”