Regnum Caya, Belek, Turkey ….
The European Tour has reassured the 2022 Ryder Cup will be staged in Rome and with discussions already well in place to possibly hold the opening ceremony in the Colosseum.
There has been some doubt since late 2015 when Rome was awarded the Ryder Cup that the staging of the biennial event could be undermined by Italian economic turmoil and also in the absence of a start to renovation work on the host Marco Simone course north of Rome.
So much so, the Adare Manor course in Ireland has been mooted as moving forward from an expected 2026 hosting of the Ryder Cup to fill the 2022 void should Italy default.
European Tour CEO, Keith Pelley dispelled this suggestion when confirming work is well underway in redesigning the Marco Simone course and also the staging of a European Tour event on the course ahead of the 2022 Ryder Cup.
“I’ve said all along the Ryder Cup in 2022 is going to Italy,” said Pelley.
“There has never, ever been any doubt over the Italian Government’s support of the 2022 Ryder Cup. That has simply been speculation. We have constant meetings with the Government and whether or not the Government changes the Ryder Cup will go ahead in Rome in 2022.
“The fact that the Government has funded the redesign of Marco Simone, which is the contract, has happened with the money being transferred so construction is well underway.
“I don’t perceive any problems at all and we are just proceeding. Our only concern with Italy was getting the golf course started and we want to have at least one Italian Open at Marco Simone before the Ryder Cup.
“Our new Ryder Cup Director, Guy Kinnings along with our entire team was there for three days this week. We saw the animated video of the Marco Simone course and what it will look like when it is finished. It is currently a construction zone now and our European Golf Design team are there on a weekly basis.
“Lavinia Biagiotti, who is the owner of Marco Simone, is absolutely terrific. She is rebuilding the entire clubhouse. So, Italy 2022 is a story that people talk about but in the past week we have had conversations about whether the opening ceremony could be held in the Colosseum. These are serious conversations with Italian decision makers and officials.
“So, it is going to be spectacular with the golf course just 11 kilometres from the city and it’s a golf course now that we are able now, and based on the fact that our team is in there redesigning it, we can recreate the amphitheatre we had at Golf le National.”
The Ryder Cup has become the third biggest sporting event behind the Olympic Games and World Cup.
Pelley confirmed 270,000 spectators from 90 countries attended the 2018 Ryder Cup in Versailles.
“There were also 40 TV broadcasters beaming the Ryder Cup to 180 countries while the social media engagement was four-times that of Hazeltine in 2016,” he said.
“Big sporting events are getting bigger and bigger and the Ryder Cup is far beyond a golf event. It’s a global iconic event and it’s fantastic for our game, terrific for the sport and it’s something that certainly benefits the European Tour in many different ways including financially and what it carries for the players playing in our tournaments.”
