PUTT ON HOLD

Pushing Ryder Cup to next year ‘a relief’ for skipper Harrington

PADRAIG HARRINGTON is ‘relieved’ that the decision has finally been made to postpone the Ryder Cup for a year.

The matchplay showdown clash with the Americans will now be staged in September 2021 at Whistling Straits.

And the next European clash with their rivals will be pushed back to 2023 in Rome.

Top players like Rory Mcilroy and Brooks Koepka had been fiercely opposed to playing the matches without crowds – and the American said he would have considered a boycott.

With Covid-19 cases increasing in the USA, plans to admit a limited crowd at the Memorial next week have been abandoned while next month’s US PGA will be behind closed doors.

Europe captain Harrington (inset) said: “This is coming for a number of weeks and it’s certainly a relief at this stage.

“The decision was taken for purely health and safety, but there were many complications behind the scenes that would have made it very difficult for me as captain to go there with the players I wanted.

“I think the

PGA of American and Ryder Cup had to consider (no fans) and nobody in Europe was going to go over to it, it’s like a fiveweek trip if you were to go now, and we didn’t want the Ryder Cup without the fans, it shows what we think of the fans.

“The players spoke out and it showed they really play the Ryder Cup for the glory of it.

“When you think of the Ryder Cup, you think of the distinctive atmosphere generated by the spectators, such as around the first tee at Le Golf National two years ago.

“If that cannot be responsibly recreated at Whistling Straits in September, then it is correct that we all wait until it can be. September 2021 will come around quickly.”

World No.13 Justin Rose, who has played in the last five Ryder Cups (Ian Poulter and Tommy Fleetwood celebrate victory in 2018, right), said: “I think it’s the right call.

“The Ryder Cup is about the fans. They make it, for sure.

“As a European, I think we probably would have accepted no fans, it might have made life a bit easier, but we’re going to have a better time with the fans.

“Obviously, a US crowd is a fun crowd to play in front of.

“It’s a tough crowd for an away team.

“But 100 per cent, a venue like Whistling Straits needs a lot of people. It’s a huge site.” NEW RYDER CUP DATES 2021 Whistling Straits, Wisconsin 2023 Marco Simone Golf Club, Rome

2025 Bethpage Black, New York 2027 Adare Manor, Ireland 2029 Hazeltine, Minnesota 2031 Tbd/europe

2033 Olympic Club, California 2035 Tbd/europe

2037 Congressional, Maryland