Ryder Cup Betting / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 03 October 2010 /

Frustration all round after overnight heavy rain has left Celtic Manor waterlogged and unplayable. A midday start to the uncompleted matches from the third session is still possible, if unconfirmed, whilst play is almost definitely going to carry on till Monday...

A Monday finish to this year's Ryder Cup now looks inevitable after overnight rain left Celtic Manor unplayable, meaning no action will take place on Sunday morning. Proceedings were already delayed after seven hours of play were lost on the opening day which is why there are still foursome and fourball matches unfinished going into the final day, which in normally reserved for just the twelve singles matches.

The course is in such a bad state that spectators were not allowed on it and were told by the tournament organisers to stay at home until an official announcement is made as to when play will resume. The announcement is likely to take place at 11am London time and if all goes well, a midday start is still possible, provided most of the water has been drained from the course.

The delay is a frustrating situation for all concerned. Europe were the side carrying all the momentum when play was stopped on Saturday night due to bad light. Despite trailing 6-4 after the second session, they were ahead in all six matches from the third session, including holding virtually unassailable leads in the two top matches where Luke Donald/Lee Westwood are 4up thru 9 against Tiger Woods/Steve Stricker and Graeme McDowell/Rory McIlroy are 3 up thru 7 against Zach Johnson/Hunter Mahan. When the third session is finally completed, it would take a minor miracle for Europe not to be ahead going into the singles. And the lead could be a significant one if the Europeans are able to hang on and close out most of the matches currently in play where they are ahead.

If Europe do take a lead into the singles, there are more reasons for concern for USA captain Corey Pavin. If considerable play is lost today and for some parts of tomorrow and the singles matches aren't completed by 18:43 on Monday, the uncompleted matches will be deemed to be halved whilst the results on the completed ones will be added to the final score. This would appear to benefit the side taking the lead into the singles, which as we've seen, looks likely to be Europe. A factor that punters on Betfair need to be aware of and one of several which explain why Europe are currently the [1.48] favourites to win the Ryder Cup, with USA [3.95] and the tie [13.0].

Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer have been the outstanding players for Europe so far with the pair playing together in the first two sessions and picking up one and a half points from a possible two. Westwood will pick up another point if him and Luke Donald do indeed get the better of Woods and Stricker from a superb position, whilst Martin Kaymer may have a little more work to do to close out his match with Ian Poulter against the American pairing of Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, despite being 2up thru 4. That explains why Westwood is [1.86] favourite to end as Europe's top points scorer with Kaymer [3.3].

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