If needs be, depending on the favours bestowed on the event by the moody weather gods, the 36th Ryder Cup match at The K Club will extend into Monday next.
As part of the contingency plan drawn up for the tournament, the two captains - Europe's Ian Woosnam and the United States' Tom Lehman - have informed the 24 players on their respective teams that, should the weather continue to be a spoilsport and cause a significant amount of play to be lost, then the option of playing on Monday will be taken up.
"I think it could possibly go into Monday, we'll just have to wait and see what happens," said Woosnam, while Lehman was not unduly concerned if the match had to go into an extra day. "It's a golf tournament and we're all used to delays and playing on Monday. It's not like it is something that has never been done before. I think we'd all prefer to finish on a Sunday schedule, it would be better for the tournament, for television, for the fans, better for everybody."
Yesterday morning's high winds disrupted the second day of practice. Spectators attending the course were not admitted until the gates to the public opened at 10am, while the two teams revised their practice plans and only played nine holes. The US team even went a step further, deciding to only play in short-iron shots on the par fours and par fives.
George O'Grady, the executive director of the PGA European Tour, was hoping that yesterday's disruptive weather was a "one-off day," as he put it. "We've got the very best Ryder Cup (weather) forecasting, but it is not an exact science. We've looked at the contingencies. We've always had them to go into Monday if we had to, but we don't want to visit that at the moment at all. We have time up our sleeves when Sunday comes," said O'Grady.
Increasingly, though, it would seem that the teams will be playing lift, clean and place on the fairways as many balls are picking up mud. Andy McFee, the European Tour's chief referee, will ultimately make the decision on whether preferred lies will be in operation on any day of the match. "We will resist the temptation of playing preferred lies as far as we possibly can," said O'Grady. But, if it were to occur, then he added: "I don't think it would demean the tournament, because this is about a match between two teams within the Rules of Golf. We don't want to, but we would if we had to."
In actual fact, both Lehman and Woosnam discussed the subject when the two teams met for dinner on Tuesday night and they will be consulted on the issue before a final decision is made. "No one wants to see a good shot just shoot off line into the rough," said Woosnam.
One man, though, was adamant that preferred lies would be the option taken. "I think we're probably going to have to," said Tiger Woods, remarking that players were getting "mud balls" in practice, ominously adding: "More rain is going to fall before we tee it up on Friday."
