Ryder Cup format is changed in attempt to finish on time (Extra)

Oct 1, 2010, 19:02 GMT

Newport, Wales - Ryder Cup organizers on Friday announced that they had re-scheduled the format in an attempt to finish the competition on Sunday.

Pouring rain on Friday caused a seven-hour suspension of play at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, forcing organizers to look at the situation again as it was looking very unlikely that play would be completed by Sunday.

Instead of playing four foursome flights in the second session, which was due to be played on Friday afternoon, six foursome matches will now be played.

These will be followed by two foursomes and four fourballs in the third session and then the 12 single matches on Sunday.

The European Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady said that the new schedule, which would save them about five hours, gave them a shot at finishing the competition, which sees 12-man teams from the US and Europe competing against each other, on Sunday.

'It all depends on the sky. We do not have a good forecast for Sunday, but it is supposed to be good on Monday. There is a cut-off time of 6.40pm on Monday, at which time all single matches have to be finished. All games not completed will be considered halved.

'We will start the sessions a bit tighter and make the gaps between tee-off times shorter. Play is to resume at 8am on Saturday and Sunday.'

O'Grady defended the timing of the Ryder Cup, saying that there were never any weather guarantees. 'We all know the weather can change and golf tournaments have lost days before. We are just unlucky.'

He said that they had several options to try to save time, one of them being to simply scratch a session. 'But we wanted to keep the 28 points on offer and try to finish on Sunday.

'We also feel for our loyal fans and we are looking into the various options. They should save their tickets from Friday and will be compensated in some way by having access to other European Tour events.'