Ryder Cup put off

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Ryder Cup put off

London: The 2001 Ryder Cup, scheduled for The Belfry in central England from September 28-30, has been postponed until 2002 as a result of the terror attacks on the United States, organisers said.

The PGA of America has informed The European Ryder Cup Board that "the scope of last Tuesday's tragedy is so overwhelming that it would be impossible for the United States Ryder Cup team and officials to attend the matches this month".The 34th Ryder Cup will now be played at The Belfry in September of 2002, featuring the same players who qualified for this month's event.

"We have been placed in a position beyond our control and therefore the matches, out of necessity, have been postponed," a statement from the European Tour read."The invitation for the United States team and officials to attend the Ryder Cup has not been withdrawn but extended. We will now start the process of rescheduling the matches for 2002."

"It has been agreed that the matches will take place with the same captains, Sam Torrance (Europe) and Curtis Strange (United States), and the same 10 qualified players and the two wildcards as already nominated by the captains."The only previous time the Ryder Cup has not taken place as planned was during World War II. The 1937 matches at Southport and Ainslie were eventually followed by the 1947 matches at Portland Golf Club.European captain Torrance said the right decision had been made to put back the 2001 contest by a year."The decision to postpone the Ryder Cup matches this year is one of commonsense," he said.

TERRIBLE TRAGEDY

"What happened in America last week has put the Ryder Cup and everything else into perspective. I am desperately heartbroken for all the people involved in this terrible tragedy."All I can feel at the moment is an immense sadness. There will be time enough to talk further about the Ryder Cup taking place next year."United States captain Curtis Strange agreed. "The tragedy in America caused us all to reflect and evaluate our own lives and relationships with family and friends," the twice U.S. Open champion said.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by last Tuesday's disaster. With regards to this year's Ryder Cup matches, my concern was always centred on 'the right thing to do'."The PGA of America's decision to postpone the matches is very appropriate in light of the situation. I look forward to playing the matches next year."

The PGA of America said they were "very appreciative of the support and understanding expressed by European Ryder Cup officials"."We understand this is a hardship for them to reschedule the matches next year at The Belfry, but it was important to us that the matches be played and not cancelled," chief executive officer Jim Awtrey said in a statement.

"We will work with our counterparts in Europe over the next year to ensure that the Ryder Cup matches are played in the spirit in which they were meant."The likelihood of this year's event taking place as scheduled was thrown into grave doubt when world number one Tiger Woods withdrew from the European Tour's Lancome Trophy in Paris next week because of Tuesday attack.

Woods was due to arrive in Paris on Monday for the event, starting next Thursday, but had said earlier in the week that he was unsure whether he would travel.Along with most other leading American players, Woods said he was uncertain whether the Ryder Cup should go ahead and several said they were unsure whether they would have travelled even if it was played.