Colin Montgomerie wants all those European fans to take another day off.The Ryder Cup was supposed to end Sunday, but two long rain delays forced the competition into Monday for the first time. Fearful of overcrowding, officials decided to only allow those with final-day tickets to return for the deciding matches at water-logged Celtic Manor.
Of course, some of those 40,000 ticket-holders surely had to be at work or had travel plans that couldn't be changed. That is sure to mean smaller crowds cheering on the home team when it needs them most, a prospect that seemed a bit troubling to the European captain.
"Quite a few of them might need a sick note," Montgomerie quipped after Europe surged into a three-point lead heading to singles with one of its most brilliant team performances ever. "We do hope that as many people as possible with Sunday tickets will turn up."
Monty asked course officials if fans with Sunday and Friday tickets could be allowed in, boosting the potential crowd and paying back those who saw only a few hours of golf the first day (play was suspended for more than seven hours because of heavy rain).
That wasn't possible.
"Imagine if all 40,000 today turn up and all 40,000 on Friday turn up, the course couldn't cope," Montgomerie said. "Unfortunately, we have to limit it to people with Sunday tickets, and I think that's only fair."
Celtic Manor already was pushed to the brink by torrential rain that turned many of the areas outside the ropes into something more suited for a tractor pull.
After more rain pounded the course, delaying play Sunday by almost four hours, the gates didn't open to fans until 11 a.m.
"There was a health and safety issue here," Montgomerie said. "It was touch and go whether any spectators were out on the course today at all."
Celtic Manor's owner, Sir Terry Matthews, built the new Twenty Ten course mainly for the notoriety it could bring to his resort and the boost it could give to Wales, which is hosting the Ryder Cup for the first time. All that rain surely hasn't been much of a selling point to potential tourists.
"Everybody involved in organizing this first Ryder Cup in Wales is deeply disappointed by the weather," Matthews said in a statement, "but our biggest disappointment is for the spectators and sponsors who deserve so much better."
Many have questioned the wisdom of hosting the event at one of the rainiest times of year in this country, but Matthews said the bad weather was simply a case of bad luck.
"We could have played this event exactly one year ago or exactly one week ago and we would have experienced no interruptions to the schedule of play," he said. "But one thing we cannot control is the weather."
