Compiled by PAUL GALLAGHER
Pat Nap: Harrington grabs some kip as kids play games
GOLF/PUTT THE HEAD DOWN:PERHAPS IT'S an age thing for when the young guns availed of considerable downtime yesterday they fired straight onto the PlayStation or Xbox, while for one of the elder statesmen it was a chance to grab 40 winks.
As the rain of “biblical proportions” drowned the Twenty Ten venue, the likes of Rory McIlroy and co got into some virtual action, ironically, playing Tiger Woods 2011 on the PlayStation.
And what was Pádraig Harrington doing when the gamers were flexing their digits? He was sprawled out on the locker room floor taking a nap of course.
This nugget filtered through as top Tweeter, IanJamesPoulter, took a quick snap of Harrington (see right) catching a bit of shut eye. “Paddy Harrington relaxing in the changing room. pure class,” we were informed. A short time later Graeme McDowell backed-up his compatriot with his own Tweet. “I was doing the same to be fair.”
Back at the consoles McIlroy gained the upper hand against Ross Fisher. “The thing is we have all the dinners and stuff done with so myself and Fish had a few games on the Xbox,” explained McIlroy. “He (Fisher) got dragged away by his wife when I was leading.”
Meanwhile, Martin Kaymer got involved with some Tiger action. “We were just playing Tiger Woods 2011 on the PlayStation in the team room. Everyone was trying to beat each other,” said the German, noting that some of his team-mates opted for the solo challenge. “Some prefer to do it alone. Luke Donald was up there playing with himself, Quite funny, really.”
It seems the ever present Woods has a very real influence within European ranks as well as in the yanks corner.
“At what stage do we bring in the navy.” — As overheard by an American colleague in the media centre after the heavens opened and play was suspended.
Number Crunching
180 Mobile offices/toilets around the course
20 Grandstands totalling 15,000 seats
12 Jumbotron screens
450 Plasma screens
600 Telephone lines installed
500,000 Litres of water per day
8,000 Hospitality meals served each day (but not in the media centre!)
20 kilometres of rope
320 Golf buggies
35,000sqm Tentage
How times have changed for Oliver Wilson. Two years ago he was teeing it up on his Ryder Cup debut at Valhalla and part of the inner circle, whereas this time around he was forced to mix it with the plebs in the press corps.
Cup of little cheer: Ticket policy proves very strict
MONEY DOWN DRAIN: "YOU PAYS your money and you takes your chances." That's certainly the case at this Ryder Cup as a £100 (€115) daily entrance doesn't guarantee a whole lot of action, as was clearly evident yesterday. As for refunds? Don't even go there.
The Irish Timeswas in possession of a £100 ticket for entrance to today's action. A friend who couldn't make it asked if yours truly would take it to Wales in the hope of getting a refund.
A brief visit to the official ticket office confirmed the bad news. With each ticket showing a barcode and mug-shot image, presumably for security and accountability reasons, there was no chance of a transfer and even less chance of a refund, so said £100 went down the drain (no pun intended).
As for the terms and conditions of using yesterday's ticket for another day, the small print covered that one. "In the event of postponement, the ticket shall not be valid for the rearranged date."
Pricey pint: No free drop
A SHELTERED WATERING hole was always going to be a haven as spectators, soaked like teabags, scrambled for space in the heavily populated bars at the tented village to begin the soakage from within.
Beer drinking was an ideal secondary option in the absence of live golf, but it was hardly vintage porter the punters were getting their hands on. The beer of choice, naturally enough, was the local brew Brains, a snippet at £5 (€5.75) a pint.
After choking on the overpriced beverage, at least patrons got to take their plastic glass home with them. Sure why wouldn't you when the tumblers have a Ryder Cup logo printed on the side. Bargain collector's item? Hardly.
