WEATHER NEWS:BELIEVE IT or not this Ryder Cup is going to end; there will be a conclusion and there will be an outcome as forecasters confidently predict enough good weather to get through the singles before yet more downpours are due to arrive in the Usk Valley tonight.
There has been far too much sloshing about in the mud at Celtic Manor this week. Public walkways have long since turned a murky shade of brown and with such undulation around this course, navigating a path outside the ropes became a genuine health and safety concern.
Quite how the green-keeping staff managed to get the course playable was a wonder in itself. John Paramor, European Tour chief referee, was quick to praise Jim McKenzie, the resort's head greenkeeper, and his team.
"As soon as the rain lightened they sprang into action to start clearing the water and preparing all the surfaces for play, and I can't praise them highly enough," said Paramor after torrential rain eventually gave way shortly after 10am yesterday.
"Obviously we would've preferred to finish on Sunday, but on this occasion it just hasn't proved possible. We've had other tournaments finish on a Monday before so this isn't a first, although it obviously is a first for the Ryder Cup."
Between 5.30pm on Thursday and 10am yesterday a staggering 52.2millimetres (2.04inches) of rain fell on the Twenty Ten Course. With water levels already at a high Saturday night's downpour brought 15.4mm more rain. The course quickly became unplayable but organisers were also forced to close the entire venue to the public for fear of spectators injuring themselves in such slippery, wet conditions. It reopened to the public at 11am yesterday.
By mid-morning staff worked tirelessly to repair the gable end of the main grandstand behind the 18th where Ryder Cup emblazoned branding had come away from the metal structure after it took a battering from the extreme conditions.
The weather forecasters, bearers of bad news time and time again, were spot on, which at least gave the teams time to make contingency plans, and they were aplenty.
