The Scottish Executive have boosted their country's hopes of staging the Ryder Cup in 2009 by ploughing £750,000 into European Tour and Scottish PGA events. The joint investment with the Bank of Scotland will see Scotland stage three top-level golf tournaments in 2001. First Minister Henry McLeish confirmed that Scotland would host the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on July 12-15, the Scottish PGA championship at Gleneagles on August 13-16 and the Scottish Seniors Open, at a venue yet to be decided on August 31-September 2.
Mr McLeish insisted: "This announcement is great news for Scotland's Ryder Cup bid and great news for Scottish golf. And while bringing the Ryder Cup to Scotland would be a great achievement in its own right, I am clear that our support for golf development must extend well beyond the time that the Ryder Cup committee collects the successful bid. We are under-pinning Scotland's Ryder Cup bid with a comprehensive strategy to develop and support golf at all levels. We have a fine tradition of hosting top level events, which we plan to build on."
The Executive hope to bring the world's best players to Scotland with the intention of raising the profile of the sport and swinging the decision of the Ryder Cup committee in their favour. Scotland's number one golfer Colin Montgomerie was present at the announcement and has pledged his support to the campaign. Montgomerie, who is preparing for a long season ahead, said: "I would be delighted to see the Ryder Cup come here to Scotland. I am speaking for the rest of the professionals in Scotland when I say that and we have magnificent courses here. If we stage this event it would bring more world class players to Scotland and the public." (PA)
Filed by Shane Murray
