If yesterday's Ryder Cup announcement signalled anything, it is that the Ryder Cup is for sale to the highest bidder. If you have the money, then you can buy golf's most prized asset, and the Celtic Manor owner Terry Matthews has the deepest pockets in the game right now.
Matthews's success in attaining the Ryder Cup for Wales, and more importantly his Celtic Manor resort just off the M4 near Newport, comes as no surprise to most people in golf. The Ryder Cup has been bought before, and it will be again. Matthews has simply followed in the footsteps of Jaime Ortiz Patino and Michael Smurfit.
Patino is the Bolivian tin billionaire who owns Valderrama in southern Spain. He spent a fortune on his Robert Trent Jones course near Gibraltar, and he also spent a fortune wooing the European Tour. For nine years the Tour's end-of-season Volvo Masters was staged there. Patino spared no expense in making the tournament a success. His reward was the 1997 Ryder Cup.
Most people expected that match to go to Ireland before it went to continental Europe. Patino's money put him ahead of the Irish in the queue, and Smurfit picked up where Patino left off.
He has spent a fortune on the K Club. For the past seven years the European Open has been held there. Purists felt the 2006 match should have gone to Portmarnock, a far superior course than the Arnold Palmer-designed K Club.
As with Valderrama, though, money talked, and Smurfit was rewarded with the Ryder Cup. The match will be held at the K Club in 2006.
Like Patino and Smurfit, Matthews has spent a fortune on Celtic Manor. Some £50 million sterling of Matthews' telecommunications fortune has already been spent on the three courses and the on-site 400-bedroom hotel. Another £12 million has been slated for a new clubhouse.
Matthews has stayed pretty much in the background during the bidding process. On the rare occasions he has spoken, he has let it be known that he would do everything it took to acquire the match.
"I don't give up," said Matthews when asked if he thought his bid would be successful. He also let it be known that he had money to burn.
When told it would cost over £10 million to stage a bid that might not ultimately be successful, Matthews replied bluntly. "It's just pocket money. The value of bringing Samuel Ryder's legacy to Celtic Manor and Wales is incalculable, and I am going to do it regardless of what it costs, or how long it takes."
Doing what it takes effectively means handing the European Tour a blank cheque. Matthews has already pledged a long-term commitment to staging the Welsh Open at Celtic Manor. He has also promised to make whatever alterations the Tour deems necessary to make the course ready. For example, seven new holes are being built and two redesigned to bring the venue up to scratch.
Celtic Manor's selection as the 2010 venue had been decreed since May this year when Ken Schofield, the executive director of the PGA European Tour, announced his preference for the Welsh course over bids from Slaley Hall in England, and Gleneagles, Loch Lomond, Carnoustie, and Turnberry in Scotland.
