Gleneagles now top of Ryder list

Ian Broadley, The Herald, 21 February 2001

The Scottish Executive will be told that its strategy to secure the 2009 Ryder Cup must be changed to enhance the prospects of the biennial event returning to the home of golf.

The Professional Golfers Association believes that having five venues contending to host the contest against the USA is too many and dilutes the bid.

The list must be cut to one or two venues at most and the Ryder Cup committee expect this reduction to be completed by the beginning of April.

But as Carnoustie, St Andrews, and Turnberry will now not be considered, this leaves only Gleneagles and Loch Lomond as candidates.

Both have shown their commitment to golf by running European Tour events and, of course, Gleneagles will provide new headquarters for the SPGA.

Gleneagles, as Herald Sport exclusively revealed last November, has always been the front-runner but these enforced changes to the official bid document serve to strengthen its claim.

The luxurious Perthshire resort is readily accessible by road and rail and has the accommodation to deal with what has become the third biggest event in sport.

By contrast, Loch Lomond, while one of the finest courses in the land, has encountered repeated traffic problems at its invitational event and does not have sufficient hotels in the area to cope.

More important, September can be the rainy season at Loch Lomond and it is inconceivable that the PGA would risk a repeat of the muddy scenes which threatened last year's Solheim Cup.

Having one or two candidates would present a more united front and a higher-profile challenge to Wales (Celtic Manor) and the North of England (Slaley Hall) who put forward only one course.

However, the PGA will send a delegation to the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in July and to Gleneagles for the SPGA Championship the following month to assess their respective merits in running their tournaments and study their infrastructure.

Henry McLeish, the First Minister, and Sam Galbraith, minister with responsibility for sport, met with Sandy Jones, chief executive of the PGA, Ken Schofield, chief executive of the European Tour, and members of the Ryder Cup committee at the House of Lords on Monday night.

It was also made known that Scotland's cause would also be better served if a charismatic figure was appointed to head the campaign to win the 2009 Ryder Cup.

Lord MacFarlane, whose company sponsors the highly successful Johnnie Walker Classic, was also in attendance and his experience and standing in the game make him an obvious choice.

St Andrews, Turnberry, and Carnoustie will be disappointed that they must be struck from the official bid document but the feeling is that their entire focus should be on remaining outstanding venues for the Open Championship.

There is also the argument that all three have not shown willing to promote the professional game, unlike the other two Scottish rivals.