IRELAND was formally acknowledged yesterday as the front-runner to stage the Ryder Cup in 2005. Scotland, Germany and Sweden are also bidding for the biennial golf spectacular, but a decision in Ireland's favour is expected in September when this year's Ryder Cup takes place at Valderrama on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Current estimates place the cost of staging it at around £3 million, a figure that will have increased appreciably by the time the 2005 event comes around.
Mr Enda Kenny, the Minister for Tourism and Trade, has been active in attempting to bring the event to this country. He had meetings with the PGA European Tour executive director, Mr Ken Schofield, and Ryder Cup director Richard Hills during the Smurfit European Open at The K Club last September.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Sport, Mr Bernard Allen, set up a special Ryder Cup committee, chaired by Hugh Mackeown, the chairman of Musgraves and a former amateur international. Their function was to liaise with the Government in furthering the process.
Earlier this month, Schofield and Hills were in Dublin for additional meetings with Government and Bord Failte officials. Arising from those talks, Mr Kenny issued a statement yesterday in which he expressed confidence that the matter "can be brought to a conclusion in advance of this year's Ryder Cup at Valderrama".
The Minister said detailed proposals were being prepared to make the case for Ireland hosting the 2005 event. These details were confirmed yesterday by Schofield and Hills when I met them at Wentworth. They expect to have a decision in September and a further decision on the chosen venue a year later.
Hills left no doubt about this country's prospects, saying: "Ireland is the front-runner." Schofield said: "There is no doubt Ireland has the capacity to stage the Ryder Cup." The European Tour official added, however, that Scotland, Germany and Sweden had made formal application for the event. "The Irish authorities have made their pitch very clear to us and, in response, I would like to emphasise that there will not be an auction," he said. "That's not the way we do business."
Effectively, the way Schofield does business is to use such powerful bargaining options as the Ryder Cup to enhance the playing prospects of his players. And he is clearly pleased with Ireland's contribution through the Murphy's Irish Open, the Smurfit European Open, the British Senior Open and the recent AIB Irish Senior Open. The combined prize funds for these events included around £800,000 of taxpayers' money.
Was he looking for more? "We will certainly want other developments but that's as far as I wish to go at this time," he replied. Meanwhile, Hills anticipated the possibility of problems arising from a change of government here. "Mark Mortell, the chairman of Bord Failte, has been involved in negotiations until now and we're assuming he will remain a key figure whatever happens in the election," he said.
The Ryder Cup was instituted in 1927 as a biennial competition between professionals from the US and Britain. It was expanded in 1951 to incorporate players from the Republic of Ireland and it became a full European event in 1979 when continental players such as Seve Ballesteros became involved.
Ireland was unsuccessful in a bid to stage the 1993 event at Portmarnock, when it went back to The Belfry on the casting vote of Lord Derby, then chairman of the Ryder Cup committee.