Ryder Cup director Richard Hills has revealed that seven European countries have submitted applications to host the 2022 edition of the biennial tournament.
Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey all made bids before the August 31 deadline.
Hills is delighted with the interest levels shown in the Ryder Cup from across the continent, and has admitted that they are spoilt for choice when deciding who will follow France in providing the European venue.
He said in a statement: "We are absolutely delighted at the level of interest we have received from across Europe in respect of hosting the 2022 Ryder Cup and we welcome each and every one of the seven letters of intent, each received through the respective national golf association, in accordance with bidding regulations.
"The implementation of this kind of formal bidding process for the 2018 Ryder Cup marked a new era for us all at Ryder Cup Europe, and this take up for 2022 shows that the introduction of a fair, transparent and objective methodology has been welcomed across the continent.
"Not only that, we feel it is a process which befits a sporting event of the stature of the Ryder Cup and, as we have consistently stated, the key criteria in place will enable us to evaluate each bid equally on both its sporting and commercial merits while, at the same time, allowing us to judge each bid fairly, thoroughly and on a level playing field."
The 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National course in Paris will be the first played in mainland Europe since Spaniard Seve Ballesteros captained a winning team at his home course in Valderrama in 1997.
Joe Fish
