Fans denied access to Americans

Ryder Cup: The general public will not have admission to watch the American Ryder Cup team at The K Club next Monday and Tuesday, due to health and safety issues.

The venue, which plays host to the match on September 22nd-24th, is in the midst of completing infrastructure requirements for the golfing showpiece that will see 45,000 spectators a day at the Palmer Course in Straffan, Co Kildare, and US captain Tom Lehman has been advised that it is not possible to facilitate open access for the two-day reconnaissance trip he has arranged for his team.

"I must take the advice of the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe Ltd, who strongly recommend that we do not allow the general public on to the course," said Lehman, who had intimidated at his announcement of his team's two "wild card" picks in Chicago on Monday that he would not have any problem in allowing the public watch his team practice as long as they showed due respect and didn't infringe on their preparations.

However, since then, Lehman has been advised that, because of the amount of on-going work in the preparation of the course and venue, including completing the installation of 16,000 grandstand seats, corporate hospitality areas and four spectator villages, it would not be feasible to allow any public access to the course to watch the American team's practice sessions.

In a statement released yesterday, Lehman said the request to the public not to attend The K Club next Monday or Tuesday was due to "to health and safety issues that our visit will create at a venue that is not yet built and is undergoing major construction."

The decision was made after consultation with the gardaí.

Lehman's two-day trip will take place on Monday and Tuesday, with the US team arriving on a charter flight from Cleveland after the conclusion of the Bridgestone Invitational.

As things stand, 10 of the 12 US team members, with the exclusion of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, are due to be in attendance along with Lehman, vice-captain Corey Pavin and their caddies for a bonding session ahead of next month's match when the Americans will be seeking to claim the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1999.

Work on preparing the infrastructure around the Palmer Course for the Ryder Cup, the first time the event has been staged in Ireland, started on July 8th and is scheduled to finish on September 8th.

The course, which has been open to general play, is due to close to the public and members on Sunday next, to allow for a three-week growing-in period ahead of the match.

This year's Ryder Cup will be the biggest in the history of the event. The cost of preparing the last match to be held in Europe, at The Belfry in England in 1993, amounted to €35 million but the cost of staging this year's event will be €53 million.

The on-site infrastructure includes a three-tier corporate suite by the 18th fairway, a structure of 150 metres by the 17th, 23 grandstands with the capacity for 16,000 seats, 14 leaderboards and eight jumbotron TV screens at various points around the course.

The media centre has a capacity for 1,019 print media that includes 397 from the UK, 197 from the United States, 252 from Ireland and 173 from 22 other countries around the world.

The addition of broadcast media brings the figure to in excess of 2,500 personnel.

Of what has been perceived in some quarters to be extremely tight security, including the requirement for successful ticket applicants to provide their passport number, Garda spokesman Superintendent Kevin Donohue said at a briefing in Dublin yesterday: "You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. The world is full of armchair generals . . . our priority concern is public safety."

However, it was also revealed that much of the tight precautions placed on ticket applications was to do with combating the possibility of what is called "ambush hospitality," whereby unofficial hospitality packages are put together and offered for onward sale.