PGA CEO Convinced Canceling The Ryder Cup Was The Right Move

The DETROIT NEWS' Vartan Kupelian reported that the PGA of America has no regrets about canceling the Ryder Cup in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. PGA CEO Jim Awtrey, on the cancelation: "In retrospect, we made the right decision. You were looking at thousands of people traveling to England, just a few weeks after 9-11, and we needed to let Americans get back to America." With the cancelation last year, the Ryder Cup will now be played in even-numbered years, with the '04 competition scheduled for Oakland Hills Country Club. Awtrey: "Security is high on everybody's mind. Fans have not had golf go through serious security issues. You'll see a lot more security, spot checking, and how that's going to unfold is too early to tell. All of a sudden we've got to be looking at all that when you have videos of terrorists talking about (attacks on) golf. We're going to be looking at what everybody else is doing all through the year" (DETROIT NEWS, 1/30).