European captain Padraig Harrington expects the Ryder Cup to be played as scheduled later this year.
Harrington’s comments come a day after The Telegraph reported that the Ryder Cup was set to be postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Following that report, the PGA of America released a statement calling that speculation “inaccurate.”
Speaking on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show on Today FM, Harrington said that he remains optimistic that the biennial matches will be played Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
“September is a long way off,” he said, “so there’s no change to the situation at all at this stage. I know there’s been some rumors and they had to put out a statement to say there’s been no change, but there’s definitely no change.
“I’m on the inside of these things. Normally you’re looking at ‘anonymous source says this ...’ but now that I’m on the inside, you go, ‘Wow, it really is made-up stuff.’”
On Tuesday, the PGA Championship announced the postponement of the PGA Championship, while targeting a summer date. Shortly after that announcement, the PGA Tour canceled all events until mid-May at the earliest.
According to the AFP, the European Tour is expected to hold a board meeting next week, followed by a Ryder Cup committee meeting a week later.