Ryder Cup Europe (RCE) has announced that six countries, including France, Germany and Portugal, have entered the race to host the 42nd biennial Ryder Cup golf tournament in 2018.

Holland, Spain and Sweden have also confirmed their interest in bidding for the right to stage the event, which is next set to be held at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales in 2010. The deadline for interested nations to submit their official bids is 30 April 2010.

The 2018 Ryder Cup is set to be only the second to be staged in mainland Europe since the tournament was expanded in 1979 to include continental golfers, with the first being Valderrama in Spain in 1997.

RCE director Richard Hills said: "In setting the sporting and commercial criteria that will be used to assess bids, we have been quite clear that each country bid must be channelled through its National Golf Federation and that no bids from individual venues will be considered."

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