Ryder Cup Deadline is 6:43 p.m. BST on Monday

With soaking rains suspending play on Day 1 of the the 2010 Ryder Cup, and more rain in the forecast, finishing the event on time on Sunday is looking doubtful.

That's OK, they can always play on Monday. But it's supposed to be raining on Sunday - and on Monday, too. What if the Ryder Cup can't even be finished on Monday?

There is no such what if - the 2010 Ryder Cup will end, at the latest, at 6:43 p.m. British Standard Time on Monday. That's the sunset time at Celtic Manor on Monday, and that's the deadline on which Ryder Cup captains Corey Pavin and Colin Mongomerie previously agreed.

If the Ryder Cup is still ongoing at that point, the competition will end and the score will stand as-is. All completed matches count, and any imcomplete matches still on the course will be halved. And that has nightmare written all over it.

Imagine: It's 6:43 p.m. Monday and Team A leads Team B by a 1.5 points. But there are two matches still on the course, and Team B is ahead in both. Team B can win the cup by winning both those matches! But wait - the deadline is here, those matches are ended and halved, and Team A wins by 1.5 points. Sorry, Team B. Deadlines, you know.

Hopefully, it won't come to that. But if it does, you can expect plenty of bellyaching from players on the wrong side of such a scenario, and from that side's fans.

But the reason for such a deadline in the first place is that none of the players want to hang around longer than Monday, not even to properly finish a Ryder Cup. Remember the 2003 Presidents Cup? That's the year the teams agreed to share the cup - no winner, no loser - rather than stick around until Monday to complete a playoff.