After a two-year, $20 million campaign, five European countries will find out Tuesday which of them will stage golf's 2018 Ryder Cup.
It will mark only the second time that the biennial match-play tournament between Europe and the US will be held on mainland Europe.
In the build-up to the announcement at the European Tour's UK headquarters in Wentworth, England, the race still appeared wide open, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"We've codenamed this internally 'Operation Even Playing Field,'" said Richard Hills, one of the European Tour's six-member selection panel.
For many, Tuesday's decision has been overshadowed by the death on May 7 of Seve Ballesteros, Europe's most successful golfer and a man who came to embody the Ryder Cup.
His contribution to this event was indisputable — many observers cite the five-times major champion as the catalyst for the Ryder Cup's upswing in popularity — and has led to emotional pleas to dedicate the 2018 event to his memory by playing it in Madrid.
But with each of the five vying countries — Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and outsider the Netherlands — having spent up to £3 million ($4.2 million) to satisfy the exacting criteria laid down in the European Tour's guidelines, the organization is under pressure to ensure the final decision is transparent.
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