The Loop

Dreary conditions await players at Celtic Manor

September 30, 2010

NEWPORT, Wales -- After you trudged through the dark and rain this morning to load onto the shuttle bus, and rode over the hill into the Celtic Manor Resort, you spied a light shining over the Twenty Ten course.

Was that the sun?

No. No, it was most definitely not.

It was merely a floodlight beaming artificial glow into an otherwise dreary morning. No, there isn't much of a chance of seeing the sun on the first day of the Ryder Cup, which leads to the question of whether we'll be seeing much golf on the first day of the Ryder Cup.

So far, the answer is we're on schedule, with the only concession to the weather the decision by officials to let players play preferred lies on a course that is dangerously close to being underwater.

With the start of play 30 minutes away, it is cold. It is wet. And it is dark. Otherwise, it's a beautiful morning for golf.

-- *Sam Weinman *