The Ryder Cup match in 2001 will be held at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, it was announced yesterday. It will be the fourth time in five home matches that the Brabazon course has played host to an event that has become one of the most absorbing, and lucrative, in sport.

In a pre-emptive strike that will dismay other clubs who had ambitions of staging the match, the cup committee voted unanimously for The Belfry. Twenty-four clubs throughout Europe had expressed an interest, and that had been narrowed down to six. It was, however, effectively a one horse race. Europe won at The Belfry in 1985, igniting interest in a competition that had been dominated by the Americans; retained the Cup with a tie at the same venue in 1989, and lost it there three years ago, 15-13.