Harrington made to wait for chance to lead Ryder Cup challenge

GOLF: Decision to postpone follows earlier assurances tournament in US would still go ahead despite coronavirus

This year’s Ryder Cup is set to be postponed for a year after all, despite previous assurances that the matches would go ahead in September.

Multiple reports from the US and Europe are speculating that the decision will be revealed before the end of this month, and that decision is to put back the event at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin to 2021 rather than force playing without fans, as seemed increasingly unavoidable if it was to go ahead this September.

Previous suggestions that the lucrative contest was to be postponed had been rubbished by senior officials, including European captain Padraig Harrington, who said that one report saying a postponement was being discussed had been “made up”.

Harrington was quoted by the Irish Independent saying he had no information about a postponement.

“I haven’t been informed of that and I’d expect I’d be in the first group to know,” he said in a text.

US captain Steve Stricker was granted extra wildcard picks just two weeks ago, indicating that it was still full steam ahead.

However Stricker later said he couldn’t imagine the event being played without spectators, echoing the comments of leading players including Rory Mcilroy of Europe and Brooks Koepka of the USA.

It seems that this player revolt over the prospect of playing without fans – and the massive loss of revenue incurred by the PGA of America and the state of Wisconsin as a result – has convinced the tournament partners to decide not only to postpone, but to revert to holding the event in odd-numbered years.

The event switched to even-numbered years when it was postponed for a year in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

The hosts had considered vastly reducing the numbers of spectators at the event to 25,000 a day rather than the usual 40,000, but the remaining Covid-19 problems in the US where the virus continues to spike in several states, and other issues of quarantining visitors from outside of US borders meant that was not an option.

Moving to 2021 will mean the next European-based Ryder Cup in Rome moves to 2023, with Adare Manor in Ireland the prospective host for 2027 – which will be the centenary of the first time the event was staged.

Picture: Shutterstock. European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington had previously said he believed the event would go ahead this year.