Remember this weekend a year ago? Glorious in the valleys, it was. How many times have we heard that said over the past week here at Celtic Manor?
Yes, it is perfectly possible to have wonderful weather in early October, as was proved here this time last year. But the truth is, when the days shorten the odds lengthen on that being the case.
And so it has come to pass that they played the Ryder Cup here a year too late. Conditions were perfect 12 months ago when they launched the "Year to Go" celebrations at this south Wales course.
Now, though, we're looking at a Ryder Cup spilling over into a fourth day for the first time and despite the fine weather of October 2009, it is no surprise at all that the Celtic Manor edition of match should be the first not to finish on time.
We've been predicting it from the moment the match was assigned its place in the schedule. Of course, there are no guarantees in September but there is definitely more chance of completing the golf on its assigned dates then than later in the year.
Sir Nick Faldo got plenty of stick at the last Ryder Cup. He was even criticised for warning us to "bring your waterproofs" to south Wales. It might not have been the appropriate time to send such a message, but he has certainly been proved right by the miserably soggy scenario at the 2010 match.
More than two inches of rain fell on Celtic Manor between Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning
More than two inches of rain fell on the Celtic Manor course between Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning
So who do we blame? It is not enough to say this is pure bad luck because the game's administrators made this situation more likely by moving the match to October.
The problem lies in the dysfunctional nature of the way in which the game is run by disparate governing bodies.
On this side of the pond the European Tour runs the Ryder Cup and the professional schedule. In America it is different. The PGA Tour runs the schedule and a completely separate body, the PGA of America, administers the Ryder Cup.
The match is not the primary concern of the PGA Tour, which has now taken over September with its Fed Ex Cup play-off series. The PGA of America has been forced to let go the traditional weeks where Ryder Cups have been staged.
The event does not bankroll the PGA Tour in the way it does its European equivalent. So why should the American Tour be bothered about an event from which it doesn't profit, and that has the capacity to take the limelight from the tournaments that it puts on?
The dollar sign is king and tradition and pure sport goes out of the window. The Ryder Cup is professional golf at its most captivating; in no other arena does it stir passions among players and fans in quite the same way, but that's not enough for it to take precedence.
The PGA of America's main role in life is to look after the club pros in the US and to organise the US PGA Championship along with the American end of the Ryder Cup.
And it needs the PGA Tour on its side for the match to have any chance of flourishing. The European Tour is left as piggy in the middle.
Something has to change because we cannot go forward scheduling home Ryder Cups in October. Bear in mind the 2014 match is due to be played at Gleneagles, which is no stranger to bad weather.
Too much damage has already been done and the next home match for Europe, at its Scottish venue, has to be given every chance of finishing on time or else the Ryder Cup's credibility is in danger of being washed away.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/iaincarter/2010/10/politics_to_blame_not_wales.html
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