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Captain and past president bring Valhalla to boiling point
Last updated: 27th August 2010
The fans were cheering away and proving they were up for the cup. Captain Azinger felt they obviously needed a little more motivation though telling them "When the Europeans miss putts, you cheer"!
James HaddockQuotes of the week
At last the Ryder Cup is finally underway! What a day on the Valhalla golf course.
We were on site before dawn, watching the groundstaff work in pitch black darkness, but the course looked magnificent. From the time the sun began to rise, there was a real sense of occasion, fans started streaming into the spectator areas.
We're based for much of the time in a tv tower alongside the 9th fairway, a great view up to the clubhouse and we can also see all the way down to the first tee.
It was at about 7.45am that I first heard the distant chants of "USA, USA, USA" and "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Europe, Europe" and I must confess it really did send a tingle through the hairs on the back of my neck.
The roar when the first group's teed off just after eight o clock was incredible, and we found ourselves captivated, watching them stride down the fairway towards us. The atmosphere in a Ryder Cup match really is unique - you'll find nothing like this in any other golf tournament on day one at the first hole.
I've bumped into loads of British fans here, and let me tell you they're having a great time in Kentucky (especially the Irish guys I've met), some saying this is the best spectator course they've ever been to.
I also saw Martin Kaymer, the first reserve for the European team and also one of the men entrusted to be Nick Faldo's eyes and ears. Kaymer's clearly very excited at being around the Ryder Cup, telling me the atmosphere around the first tee was amazing. This young man only just missed out on qualification and is trying to absorb the whole thing, one for the future for sure.
Just after leaving Kaymer at the European team room, we heard a screech of buggy brakes, then a skid. Was it a crash? No, however, it had suddenly got very busy.
A lot of guys were handing around in black suits and sunglasses (standing out a country mile at a golf course I might say), there was a lot of fuss. Seems that while we were speaking to Kaymer we left our buggy blocking a pathway... where ex-President George Bush Senior was waiting to travel through to get to the clubhouse.
I think he'd only been there for a few seconds, we moved aside, and he sped through to cheers and chants of "USA, USA" from a crowd happy to see their former leader.
Talking of leaders and chants, Paul Azinger's kicked up a bit of a fuss. There was a rally (well a stage with bands playing) where the USA team went to appear in front of a supportive crowd in downtown Louisville last night.
The fans were cheering away and proving they were up for the cup. Captain Azinger felt they obviously needed a little more motivation though telling them "When the Europeans miss putts, you cheer"!
I think you'll be hearing a lot more about that over the next few days in the papers and from around Valhalla.
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