Spanish unhappy at 'pressure' over Seve
Spanish officials congratulated France on their 2018 Ryder Cup victory on Tuesday but criticised rivals for dragging the issue of Seve Ballesteros into the campaign.
Spanish bid chief Gonzaga Escauriaza told reporters he had been disappointed by suggestions made by golf professionals that awarding the event to Madrid as a tribute to Ballesteros would be unfair.
"I saw some comments from some of the bids that they shouldn't give it to Spain because of Severiano," Escauriaza said.
"I don't think that was fair because there wasn't a single press release from me mixing anything Ryder Cup with Severiano.
"We could have done it because he was a huge supporter of the Ryder Cup. But we didn't because we didn't want to put that pressure on the committee.
"We thought it was not fair. But it's not fair either to hear other people talking about it."
Escauriaza also paid generous tribute to the French bid.
"France presented a fantastic bid. We have to congratulate the French; let them enjoy the moment, and of course we tell them that if they need any help we are ready to help them in any way," he told reporters.
European Tour chief executive George O'Grady said the committee had not felt any undue pressure over the Ballesteros issue.
"All the bids had something very special. We're well aware of the Seve factor but we'd been aware of that since the start," O'Grady said.
"It didn't make the slightest bit of difference to us. It was a completely open playing field. We didn't feel any undue pressure on us.
"It was water off a duck's back."