Tour set to unveil new Ryder Cup qualifying system

THE European Tour will unveil a new qualification procedure for the 2004 Ryder Cup early in the New Year after meetings of the tournament committee and the board of directors at Wentworth yesterday examined how to scrap the current outdated system.

As the game becomes more global and a growing number of top European golfers choose to ply their trade in America, the Tour has decided the previous arrangement of assembling the 12-man team, in which 10 players qualified from a year-long points tally in Europe along with two captain’s wild cards, was no longer sure to deliver the leading players.

That’s why a meeting of the tournament committee chaired by Mark James, followed by a board meeting led by chairman Neil Coles, debated how best to alter the means of qualification for the next match in order to let Europe defend the cup at Oakland Hills in Michigan against the United States with their strongest-possible team.