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New Ryder Cup dates set

Ryder Cup matches will be played in even years and Presidents Cup matches in odd years.

By BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 20, 2001

Golf's governing bodies came to an agreement Wednesday, allowing the postponed Ryder Cup matches to be played a year from now, with the Presidents Cup and subsequent Ryder Cups pushed back as well.

The PGA of America announced the 34th Ryder Cup will be played Sept. 27-29, 2002, at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England, a year after the event was called off because of the terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

The PGA Tour announced the 2002 Presidents Cup, originally scheduled for South Africa, will move to 2003 at the same site -- the Fancourt Hotel and Country Club in George.

Those changes mean the Ryder Cup will be contested in even-numbered calendar years, with the Presidents Cup moving to odd-numbered years.

The switch "appears to be the most logical solution given the situation we are dealing with," said Jim Awtrey, chief executive officer of the PGA of America, which along with the European PGA Tour and British PGA, govern the Ryder Cup.

The European Ryder Cup Board said in a statement that the "inevitable consequence" of the decision to postpone the 2001 matches one year was for the "immediate matches to be played in the even-numbered years."

That means the 35th Ryder Cup will be played in 2004 at Oakland Hills near Detroit; the 36th in 2006 at the K-Club in Straffan, Ireland; the 37th in 2008 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville; and the 39th in 2012 at Medinah near Chicago. (A site has not been selected for the 38th Ryder Cup in 2010 in Europe).

Presidents Cups beyond the 2003 matches in South Africa have not been determined, although the 2005 Cup is scheduled to be played in the United States.

The Ryder Cup was scheduled for Sept. 28-30 at the Belfry. But the matches were postponed on Sunday because of concern about travel, security and the appropriateness of playing such a competition in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

"I think the people in the golf world really feel the PGA of America made a very wise, sincere, good decision, thinking about the victims and their families, everything involved," U.S. captain Curtis Strange said.

Next year's Ryder Cup will be played one week after the American Express Championship is played in Ireland. It will go forward with the same captains -- Strange for the United States, Sam Torrance for Europe -- and the same 12 players on each squad that originally made the team.

The PGA Tour did not announce a date for the Presidents Cup, which was to be played Nov. 7-10, 2002.

"This new schedule provides the most effective response to the need to adjust our schedules in light of the recent tragedies," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.

LPGA: British Open champion Se Ri Pak withdrew from this week's Ashai Ryokuken championship in North Augusta, S.C., to comfort her sister, who was attending school in Manhattan when terrorists attacked.

Pak's sister was not near the World Trade Center at the time, but the LPGA star thought it best to be with her, tour spokeswoman Leslie King said.

Laura Davies also withdrew, because she could not get a flight to South Carolina until Saturday.

-- Information from Times wires was used in this report.

Future Ryder Cups

2002: The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England.

2004: Oakland Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

2006: K-Club, Straffan, Ireland.

2008: Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville.

2010: European site, TBA.

2012: Medinah CC, Medinah, Ill.

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