MCGINLEY TO ANNOUNCED 2014 RYDER CUP WILD CARDS AT WENTWORTH

NEWS RELEASE FROM EUROPEAN TOUR

 

European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley has revealed that the ballroom at Wentworth Club will be the venue for his wild card announcement, when he finalises his line-up for The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

The Irishman has three picks to add to the nine players who will have qualified automatically – the first four from The Ryder Cup European Points List, and then five from The Ryder Cup World Points List. 

The venue pays due deference to the site of the match between professionals from Great Britain and the United States in 1926, a contest which paved the way for the first Ryder Cup to take place a year later at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.

It also maintains Ryder Cup continuity given the fact that Wentworth – the home base of The European Tour – was also the location for the announcement, in 2001, that Gleneagles had won the right to stage The 2014 Ryder Cup, as well as the news, in 2011, that France had emerged from the bidding process as the host nation for The 2018 Ryder Cup. 

McGinley also revealed that the announcement will be made on Tuesday September 2, a day later than was originally planned, allowing the European captain the chance to take in events on the final day of the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of the four tournaments in next year’s FedEx Cup play-off series on the US PGA Tour.

 

“With no actual qualification points counting in the Deutsche Bank Championship, I was initially prepared to make my wild card announcement on the Monday – the day after the final counting event, the 2014 Italian Open,” said McGinley.

 

“But I have had a rethink and I now want to delay 24 hours as I realise that some potential members of the team might well be playing in Boston that week. Realistically, I think it will have minimal effect, but out of respect for any players involved, I want to allow them to finish that tournament before I call them with news, one way or another.

 

“I’m also delighted that the announcement is going to be at Wentworth Club, an iconic venue in the world of golf and one also with a rich history in terms of The Ryder Cup itself.”