The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 01 October 2010 /

Over seven hours lost to rain results in a groundbreaking schedule change and no hiding place....

After years of eager anticipation, it wasn't the start anyone had hoped for at Celtic Manor. As it often does in Wales in October, the rain fell heavily and after a couple of hours of farcical play, with water welling up in the bunkers and collecting quickly on fairways and greens alike, play was inevitably suspended, just two hours after it had begun.

For those travelling to the venue, with the M4 snarled up in both directions and even closed between junctions 14 and 15, it looked at the time like good news, as it gave them a chance to just get there, but when they did, there was nothing to see - play didn't resume until 5.00pm, over seven hours after play had stopped.

Not knowing when play was going to resume resulted in a day of hanging around for everyone, players, fans and TV viewers alike. It was nice to watch "Monty's Ryder Cup memories" and to get more of an idea of what goes on behind the scenes. As the day wore on more and more players gave relaxed interviews - revealing a little bit more about life inside the camp, particularly the European one.

Everyone seemed relaxed apart from Colin Montgomerie. It must have been a very frustrating day for the Scot who had declared that no stone would be left unturned in preparation but just about the only thing that he couldn't control was the weather and maybe he was getting frustrated by the lack of control he had over his team.

Maybe I'm reading far too much in to it but the numerous twitter pics posted by Ian Poulter, the plentiful interviews and impromptu autograph signing sessions may just have meant that when they did resume play the concentration and focus wasn't quite what it should have been in the European camp.

When play had stopped in the morning, the Europeans were leading in the first three foursomes, with the only good news for Corey Pavin being the performance of his rookie pairing of Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson, who were bringing up the rear in fine style and were two up on Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald, through just two holes, but when they finally returned to the fray, it was all change...

As the sun set over the glorious Celtic Manor resort we got a chance to see its beauty for the first time this week and we also got to see the Americans fighting back. It was only a mini session but it belonged to Corey's charges.

When they resume play in the morning the Americans will do so with the slight advantage - up in two matches, all square in one and down in one, a much improved position to the one they were in before the delay.

Due to the suspension, there's been a groundbreaking change to the schedule now. Once this first session is concluded in the morning, they'll set off on the second session of play, which will now comprise of six foursome matches instead of the usual four.

Session three will then feature two foursomes and four fourball matches, meaning all 12 players on both sides will be involved in both sessions. This year, there's simply no hiding place. The schedule change will have scuppered many a best layed plan re the Top Scorer markets but it's sure to add to the drama.

The forecast for Saturday morning is for fog, so there's every chance of further delays and the forecast for Sunday is poor, with lots more rain expected. Let's just hope it's wrong because the fans today were incredible, the galleries were still full as the sun set. They're a hardy bunch the Welsh, and they deserve a great Ryder Cup, even more so after what they've been through today.

If there aren't any further delays then they should get done by Sunday night but that's by no means a certainty. I must have been snoozing today because I've only just seen the Sunday Finish market and boy have there been some swings there! Yes has been matched at a high of [28.0] and a low of [1.25] and the odds on currently available to lay on Yes maybe worth a punt.

My only bet so far, other than those highlighted in my preview, is a small play on Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson to beat Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer @ [2.54] - You have to smile, that's the only one the Americans are down in!

Quite what time they'll finish on Saturday, or at what stage the match will be at is anybody's guess but I'll be back at the close of play to review the day's action regardless.

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