Spain Showing Late Speed In '18 Ryder Cup Derby?
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Lawrence Donegan says that's the case in this analysis of Tuesday's announcement.
The French bid boasts a great course – Le Golf National near Versailles – and has reportedly offered the greatest financial support to the European Tour over the long run. It has also been the bookies' favourite – an assignation never to be underestimated. But in the past week or so the weight of expectation has fallen behind the efforts to stage the biennial contest between Europe's best and their American counterparts in Madrid.
Financially this would make sense. Spain has long been one of the tour's strongest markets, staging more tournaments most years than any other European nation (seven in 2011, compared with two in England). To deny Madrid would be to risk losing Spanish support for the European Tour into 2018 and beyond – a prospect that will weigh heavily on tour officials.
