The 38th Ryder Cup Matches will be held in Wales in the Celtic Manor Resort which is located in the beautiful Usk valley close to Newport in South Wales.

For accommodation for the event contact the Ryder Cup Travel Services who are co-ordinating bookings for the majority of hotels within a 30 mile radius. Their (UK) contact number is 0870 755 3004.

Tickets will as usual be issued by lottery to be announced after the 2008 event - we’ll keep you posted…

Wales has some wonderful courses that are worth a visit if you are traveling to the event, including the Royal St Davids, which dates back to 1894, Cardigan and Cradoc - to mention just a few. Feel free to let us know what your favourite Welsh course is and why…

We’re interested in anything Ryder Cup related from Ryder Cup History to Ryder Cup News

The game’s greatest player will not be playing in this year’s Ryder Cup in Valhalla. News that Tiger will have reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of his left knee emerged today from his personal website.

Tiger’s golfing accomplishments in the last twelve months seem even greater with the news that he ruptured his ACL shortly after last year’s Open Championship yet since then has battled on to win ten of the thirteen tournaments in which he has played (btw, the other three were two second-place finishes and one fifth-place!). Even more extraordinary is the news that he also has a double stress fracture of his left tibia. One can only speculate how well Tiger could be playing if he was fully fit!

There will be a lot of debate now about the impact of Tiger’s absence on this year’s Ryder Cup matches. Sport has many famous tales of how teams pull together against the odds in the absence of their star player but it is difficult to make an argument that Tiger’s absence will have a net positive effect on the US team. Unfortunately, this will also have a negative impact on the profile of the competition. As great as the Ryder Cup is, any event will be lessened by the absence of one as great as Tiger.

However, the good news is that there is one more place available for aspiring US golfers. The valiant runner-up at this week’s US Open, Rocco Mediate, is now just six places away from automatic qualification!

With just 16 weeks of golf remaining before European captain Nick Faldo finalises his team for Ryder Cup 2008, it does appear likely that the European team will feature quite a few new faces in Valhalla.

Some of the veterans of the 2006 victory, and indeed of many previous victories, will have to play a lot of successful golf to climb back into serious contention for this year’s team. Previous European stalwarts such as Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Jose-Maria Olazabal are all facing an uphill climb to get themselves into contention on the points lists.

One unknown variable will be Nick Faldo’s policy when selecting his two personal picks; he may choose to go with the experience of proven winners and in that scenario the above quartet come very much into consideration. Alternatively, Faldo may elect to go with players who just miss out on automatic qualification but have been playing winning golf in the weeks leading up to the selection.

Three players who look almost certain to be on the team, based on their present standings in both points lists, are Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose. Rose will be a Ryder Cup ‘rookie’ but has proven his capability to compete at the highest level in recent years, almost a decade after his dramatic emergence onto the world stage when he came so close to winning the British Open as a teenager.

Following his play-off victory this week at Sawgrass, Sergio Garcia has jumped into the Top 5 on the World Points list and will be expected to maintain an automatic qualification position. Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Robert Karlsson and Ian Poulter will all be expected to collect sufficient points for qualification, especially given their multiple scheduled appearances on the European Tour.

These names aside, it looks like it will be a very open contest for the remaining places. Last year’s rookie of the year, Martin Kaymer has had a great start to 2008 and will be keen to continue a proud tradition of German contribution to Ryder Cup success. Daniel Chopra has featured high on the World Points list but may be under pressure to stay in contention given his lack of appearances in Europe. This is also a challenge for Luke Donald and to a lesser extent, Garcia.

Other names likely to contend include Graeme McDowell, Soren Hansen, Nick Dougherty and Oliver Wilson.

Predicting is a dangerous business but with the summer of golf upon us, the Ryder Diary team are confident that Harrington, Rose, Garcia, Westwood, Stenson and Jimenez will all qualify for selection. That leaves just four automatic positions between over twenty legitimate contenders. The only certainty is that that race will run all the way to August 31st.

“Nick Faldo has tried to redefine himself,” “I’d say he is both who he is and who he was.
“Some people have bought it. Some have not. But if you’re going to be a p***k and everyone hates you, why do you think that just because you’re trying to be cute and funny on air now that the same people are all going to start to like you?”
“The bottom line is that the players from his generation and mine really don’t want to have anything to do with him. He did what he did as a player and there are consequences.”

The Mail on Sunday is not exactly the paper of record and as we all know controversy sells papers however there’s often no smoke without a fire…

Jose Maria Olazabal, vice-captain of the European team in this year’s Ryder Cup is almost certainly going to contribute in a non-playing role only. Olazabal has played in seven Ryder Cups, most recently in Ireland in 2006. He has battled bravely against different forms of rheumatism and arthritis for over a decade, famously coming back from crippling arthritis in his foot to win the Augusta Masters in 1999.

Olazabal’s Ryder Cup legacy will always be highlighted by his association with his fellow Spaniard, Seve Ballesteros. When the young Olazabal emerged onto the scene in 1987, he was mentored and partnered by the seasoned Ballesteros and they struck up one of the most successful combinations in Ryder Cup history.

Olazabal’s rheumatism appears quite acute, affecting his back, shoulder and knees. Despite that, he is playing for the first time in seven months this week at the Anadalucia Open, where has successfully made the cut. He claims that he’s comfortable with swinging the club but finds trouble with walking and bending. His assessment of his Ryder Cup playing chances was quite fatalistic:

“Unless I completely recover right away and my game hits standards I haven’t yet reached in my life before, as far as playing is concerned, I am out of the picture”

Match-play format, where players compete directly against each other to win each hole, is rarely employed on the major golf tours. This is primarily due to the impracticality of arranging a tournament in head-to-head fashion, in contrast to the standard practice of allowing 100+ professionals to measure themselves against the par of the course. The Accenture Match Play Championship (part of the World Golf Championships series) is one such rare event and has brought the (nominally) Top 64 players in the world together in Tucson, Arizona for five glorious days of mano-a-mano competition.

The next time we see match-play dividing some of these talented players will be in Valhalla in September.This week’s event has been won handsomely by Tiger Woods, whose early-season form continues to be impressive. Woods is undoubtedly at his best when in direct competition with another player. His success rate in head-to-head contests on the final day of tournaments is legendary and he has once again demonstrated that capability here this week.

His only real scare came on the first day’s play when he trailed J.B. Holmes by three holes with five to play. Holmes sat proudly in sixth place in the Ryder Cup US Team Standings prior to this event and may well have thought that he had mastered this match-play idea as he stood on the 14th tee. He would have been forgiven for thinking that keeping a level par score on the way home should see off his opponent. That’s exactly how he played out the last five but Tiger had other ideas with three birdies and an eagle to leave the shell-shocked J.B. dreaming of what might have been (and what still may be for him in September).

Tiger Woods, of course, has an enigmatic record at the Ryder Cup. In five singles matches, he’s returned a highly respectable 3 and 1/2 points. However, in the twenty pairs matches he has competed in, the US has only won 7 and 1/2 points from a possible 20.

One of the most popular aspects of the Ryder Cup with spectators is the drama created by the use of the match-play format. Interestingly, a poll on the CBS Sports website indicates that two-thirds of respondents would like to see more match-play events in pro golf. See you all again in September!

Now, he’s requested a change in the format of the competition itself.

The first two days of the Ryder Cup require the teams to play in pairs. There are two different formats: alternate shot (European translation: foursome) and best-ball (European translation: fourball). These are self-explanatory; alternate shot requires each player to play every other shot whereas the best-ball allows both players to play their own ball and then choose the best score at each hole.

At the last two Ryder Cup events, the morning session has been best-ball with the alternate shot format in the afternoon. In Valhalla, both Friday and Saturday’s play will start with alternate shot. The justification for the change? Azinger will do anything to gain an advantage for his own team and he believes that the US team should have an advantage in alternate shot. If this is the case, then he feels it’s better to get off to a good start rather than playing a futile catch-up game, like the Americans have in recent defeats.

This single-minded determination to do ‘whatever it takes’ to give his team the best chance of success is very encouraging for the US team. Azinger has also revealed that the PGA of America are open to modifying the course appropriately to align with the strengths of his selection.

“Maybe if everybody hits it as straight as Jim Furyk … I don’t know if I can narrow the fairways, but I can sure have the rough deep,” Azinger said. “But if I have a bunch of Bubba Watsons, J.B. Holmes, Pat Perez, Phil Mickelson, guys that crank it and bomb it, maybe there won’t be rough. I don’t know yet. We’ll see.”

Our take: changing the selection criteria is very significant, this should really help Azinger get his best 12 players on the course. Changing the order of fourball/foursomes? It’s probably not that significant. Suggesting that the Americans will do better in alternate shot is a little whimsical. But Azinger’s clear focus to adapt as required should build confidence for the US team.

Louisville is host to the Ryder Cup 2008, which will be held at Valhalla Golf Club just outside the city in September 2008.

The city is preparing to host the event in style with a wide ranging program planned in the lead up to the Ryder Cup matches. The city is no stranger to major events as it plays host to famed The Kentucky Derby and The Iron Man every year. There is no doubt that Louisville intends to surpass itself for golf’s premier event. Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson has formed a task force comprised of local business executives to create activities surrounding the event that include the entire community. The Governor of Kentucky has formed a similar group on behalf of the Commonwealth.

“The Cup Experience” is expected to draw thousands of fans a revelers to the streets of Louisville with an extravaganza of events for everyone including:

• The Cup Zone, an interactive experience for both children and adults, for both golfers and casual fans, held at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville;

• The Cup Village, a signature meeting place at Fourth Street Live! with food, live music and other festivities;

• The Fightmaster Cup, named for Don Fightmaster and played at the Cardinal Club in Simpsonville, will be the first-ever international competition pitting North American’s best one-armed golfers against their European counterparts;

• The Soiree Under the Spires, a ticketed event that will provide a special evening of entertainment, dining and mixing with the stars at Churchill Downs.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf, Louisville

Elin Nordegren Woods settled her libel case against The Dubliner magazine in the High Court in Dublin for a reported sum of $183,250 and an apology.

She has indicated that the settlement will be donated to a cancer charity in honour of Heather Clarke.

Elin Nordegren Woods, welcomed the outcome of the case. She said “The false and deeply offensive article in The Dubliner magazine, with the accompanying photograph of another woman wrongly claimed to be me, caused great personal distress to me and my family,”.

Trevor White, publisher of The Dubliner, conceded that the article “was cheap, tasteless, and deliberately offensive. It was also completely untrue. The photograph was not of Ms. Nordegren Woods. There are no such photographs of Ms. Nordegren Woods on internet sites or elsewhere. Ms. Nordegren Woods has never posed, or been photographed, nude. The story was utterly and comprehensively false,” White said.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf, elin nordegren woods

The 40th anniversary Ryder Cup matches will be held on the Centenary Course at Gleneagles in 2014.

Gleneagles has a special historic connection with the event as it was here that the precursor of the Ryder Cup was held in 1921. This informal competition between British and American teams was won by the British team which included James Braid, the course designer.

The PGA Centenary Course was designed by Jack Nicklaus was first opened in 1993. The Course has a spectacular setting and begins by playing southeast towards the glen, sweeping up the Ochil Hills to the summit of the pass below Ben Shee which joins it to Glendevon.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf, ryder cup gleneagles

The Ryder Cup Diary provides comprehensive information on the Ryder Cup. It’s a valuable resource for those who want to attend and are looking for information on the Ryder Cup 2008 at Valhalla or the Ryder Cup 2010 in Wales, for those looking for information on the History of the Ryder Cup and we also have lots of information from the European Team and the US Team for the enthusiast.

On the other hand if you are a Ryder Cup novice and are trying to figure out what it’s all about and how it works we have a Ryder Cup for Dummies introduction…

We welcome any up to date information on the Ryder Cup, Player information, Ticket information, and General Ryder Cup information, so if you want to share something relevant just contact us and we’ll tell the fans…

There are many self catering options available in the area also, which may prove to be a viable alternative although the experience around the K Club was that owner expectations exceeded what golf fans were willing to pay.

McGinley who was chosen by Nick Faldo as one of his two assistants for the event back in May has now announced that he would prefer to compete for a playing place on the team.

“On reflection, and after careful consideration, I feel it’s in my best interest to concentrate on playing myself into the team, which I said from the outset was my first objective,”

The timing of this announcement has some of the commentators speculating that all is not well in the European camp. McGinley made his announcement on the eve of the Seve Trophy, which is being held in Ireland this year - an event which pits Great Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe. The interesting facts are that despite being held in Ireland there is no Irish golfer playing on the Great Britain and Ireland team and many felt that McGinley would be picked as a wild card by Nick Faldo (who also captains this event.

OK, so it’s all rumour and conjecture at this point but at the very least it points to a lack of clear communication in the European team and at worst it signals a serious rift between Faldo and his erstwhile Vice Captain (whom you think would have been singing from the same hymn sheet!). McGinley’s form is not great of late and he currently stands 70th on the European Tour order of merit, however he has 3 Ryder Cup wins from 3 appearances so his experience is not to be sneezed at.

The race for a place on the European Ryder Cup Team for Valhalla (2008) began today at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland today.

The year long points race to qualify for one of the 10 automatic places on the Ryder Cup 2008 team began with this event in Crans-Sur-Sierre Golf Club in Valais, Switzerland. It’s the first event where European golfers can earn points towards qualification for Nick Faldo’s team who will defend the title against Paul Azinger’s US team.

Five of last years victorious European team are competing in this event Paul Casey, David Howell, Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson and Darren Clarke.

Darren was very clear in his criticism of the course as a venue for the Ryder Cup:
“I think it is unbelievable they (the Ryder Cup committee) have chosen this course to stage the 2014 match.

“Scotland is the home of golf. There are two better ones here at Gleneagles. We shouldn’t play on an American style course. It’s beyond my comprehension.”

“Gleneagles is a wonderful venue but this is the wrong course,” Clarke said. “The Ryder Cup is steeped in history and I just can’t see it here.”

Clarke has a great Ryder Cup record, he has played in the last 5 Ryder Cup Matches and was on the winning team 4 out of 5. So he’s well qualified to know what makes a good Ryder Cup course (and what doesn’t!).
His comments raise the old questions around the selection criteria for Ryder Cup courses - are courses being selected on the basis of golfing merit or commerce? Furthermore are the key golf courses of the world now all being turned into bland clones of one and other with the inexorable rise of the celebrity course designer?

The following players are languishing just outside the top 25 for the moment but expect to see at least a couple of them make it back up the list come next year; Brett Wetterich , Brett Quigley, Mark Calcavecchia, Vaughn Taylor, Paul Goydos, Jason Bohn, Bart Bryant, Will Mackenzie, D.J. Trahan, Nick Watney and Dean Wilson.

Tags: ryder cup points,ryder cup standings

The Ryder Cup is often mis-spelt by those searching for it as Rider Cup.This article is just to alert you to the fact that the event is spelled with a Y after Samuel Ryder the original patron of the event.

The Ryder Diary has a wealth of information on the History, The Teams, The Players. We also have articles on the current News on Tickets, Sponsorship and attending the event.

Floyd and Stockton are both former Ryder Cup Captains and Olin is a Tour regular.

Raymond Floyd (64) is a four-time majors champion and a veteran of eight Ryder Cup campaigns, posting a 12-16-3 record and serving as Captain in 1989. He won one of his two PGA Championships at Southern Hills in 1982.

Dave Stockton (64) won PGA Championships in 1970 and 1976. He served on two Ryder Cup Teams, compiling a 3-1-1 record. Stockton was Captain in 1991, when the U.S. edged Europe out at The Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.

Olin Browne (48) is one of Azinger’s closest friends on Tour, and has had three PGA Tour and four Nationwide Tour victories since joining the PGA Tour in 1995.

A scam selling Counterfeit Ryder Cup Tickets worth over £10,000 was uncovered in court yesterday. A Welsh man sold fake tickets to unsuspecting golf fans on both sides of the Atlantic by using the online auction site Ebay. The judge imposed a custodial sentence of 9 months on the 22 year old scammer for obtaining money by deception. This conviction comes just a month after a very similar case of a 20 year old from Cwmbran who was also convicted of selling non-existent tickets for the Ryder Cup over eBay.

This highlights the dangers of buying Ryder Cup tickets online. The PGA lottery is the only legitimate source of tickets for the public and the PGA have issued warnings to that tickets are non transferable.