French Ryder Cup bid gathers pace

French golf officials are hoping that a combination of Gallic cultural clout, the strategic location of Paris and a novel method of funding will win them the right to host the 2018 Ryder Cup. The French bid, which centres on Le Golf National, the headquarters of the French Golf Federation outside Versailles, is one of five contesting the right to hold the biennial Europe v United States clash when it is held on mainland Europe for just the second time in just under six years time. The others are Germany at The Audi Course, near Munich; Netherlands at Spijk near Gorinchem; Portugal at the Herade da Comporta Golf Resort near Lisbon and Spain at the Club de Campo Tres Cantos, outside Madrid. A decision will be made by The European Ryder Cup Committee in London on May 17, just ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. The French bid, the second to come out of the country, was not among the favourites when the bidding process started, but it has gone from strength to strength in recent months and is seen in some quarters now as the favourite. That sits awkwardly with Pascal Grizot, the head of the French bid which, unlike its four rivals, is not dependent on the private sector, being managed entirely by the French Golf Federation. "Being favourite is never an easy position, but we accept it," he said. "When we started out we were rated next to last so it is a candidacy that we have built up over time and if they are saying now that we are favourites, that's fine by us but ... in no way are we being arrogant about it or complacent." Central to the French bid is the fact that the lion's share of the funding will come from revenue collected from a small increase over the next few years in the annual golf assurance licence taken out by registered players in France. On top of that there is strong backing from the state and in particular President Nicolas Sarkozy who has deemed it to be a priority for French sports in the next few years along with the Euro 2016 football and a possible Winter Olympics in Annecy in 2018. That has opened the way for the use of such cultural icons as the Chateau of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum to be used as high-profile venues for the week-long activities surrounding the Ryder Cup. "The main difference between us and the others is that the French bid is being master-minded by the federation for the development of our sport," Grizot said. "I have nothing at all against the other bids and the European Tour has said that they are all worthy. That is excellent for the development of golf on the continent. "But the Spanish bid is for the promotion of the city of Madrid, the Portuguese bid is for the development of tourism in Portugal, the German bid is much more for a private company Audi (main sponsor) and the Dutch for several private companies. "Our candidacy is entirely in the hands of the (golf) federation and for the development of golf in our country." One potential obstacle for the French has been the fact that unlike Spain with Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal and Germany with Bernhard Langer and current world number one Martin Kaymer, there has never been a top French champion who has won majors and played a starring role in the Ryder Cup. Grizot believes this could change between now and 2018. "It's true that for the moment we have not had a great champion and that could pose a problem," he said. "But we do have two players (Thomas Levet and Juan Van de Velde) who have played Ryder Cup, which is not the case for all of the other bids and we are, all the same, very present on the European Tour. "Gregory Havret came second at the US Open last year and many French have almost won at the majors, Levet for example who nearly won the British (in 2004). "And we have been working hard at the French Federation to sow the seeds that would allow us to have a French player in the Ryder Cup team for 2018." As an example he cited France's win in the world men's amateur team title last year with the women taking second place.