France to host Ryder Cup for 1st time

Shanghai Daily, May 18, 2011

France will host the Ryder Cup for the first time in 2018 on Le Golf National course near Paris.

The French bid beat off competition from rival candidates Spain, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday.

"The decision ... is a real honor for our country, the French Golf Federation and all the public and private partners who have supported the bid," said Pascal Grizot, the head of the Ryder Cup commission at the French federation.

"Above all it is a huge accolade for all French golfers who have contributed to this project."

It's only the second time the biennial match between Europe and the United States will be played on mainland Europe, the first was in 1997, when the late Seve Ballesteros captained Europe to a single-point win at Valderrama in Spain.

With emotions running high after the death this month of Ballesteros, a Ryder Cup great and five-time major champion, some believed the European Tour should honor his memory by awarding his country of birth the 2018 event. But tournament organizers were impressed with a number of aspects of the French bid, particularly the course, the location and its logistical and transport plans.

Le Golf National, also the headquarters of the French Golf Federation outside Versailles, was the best-known course of the five under consideration. It has been the venue for all but two French Opens in the last 20 years.

There was strong backing for the 2018 Ryder Cup by the French government, with President Nicolas Sarkozy making it a priority among French sports this decade along with European Championship football in 2016 and a Winter Olympics in 2018, with Annecy one of the three bidders.