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Actions speak louder than words, so the reaction of First
Minister Rhodri Morgan spoke volumes when asked about
whether the Ryder Cup might be taken away from Wales
next year.
The question was inevitable given the rumours fl ying around, however
groundless they may be, and came at a press conference given by Morgan,
Celtic Manor owner Sir Terry Mattthews and European Tour chief executive
George O’Grady.
While Sir Terry was answering the question in typically confi dent style,
Rhodri Morgan just reached across to the Ryder Cup itself on the table in
front of him and gave it a big hug.
“No-one else is getting this,” was the message delivered through body
language.
Of course the irony of this year’s Wales Open was that it started with
rumours of the event being taken away from the Celtic Manor – but ended
with proof of why that will not happen.
No-one would have wanted around 10 per cent of the annual rainfall to
arrive in a 24 hour period in June, but that was perfect as a way of showing
that the course could stand pretty much anything – and the course stood up
as well as any in the world could have done.
There may be fears over the Welsh weather at the start of October, despite
many thousands of crossed fi ngers no-one can control that, but at least now
we know the course can stand up to a deluge and be playable pretty quickly.
There is also a growing realisation, voiced by the two Ryder Cup captains
Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin, that the stadium viewing facilities
on the course will offer the next Ryder Cup a unique and fantastic extra
dimension.
The work on the course layout, following last year’s extraordinary demolition
by champion Scott Strange, also paid dividends with the tough balancing act
of offering birdies and exciting golf while not allowing the scores to be too
low.
In particular the closing holes are really starting to take shape for some
classic fi nales.

sportingwales
issue7twothousand&nine
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