Today's Golfer at Gleneagles: A Ryder Cup rookie

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The Ryder Cup is huge. I’m not talking television viewing figures or its status among the world’s leading sports event, I’m talking the sheer scale of the thing.

It’s my first Ryder Cup and while I’ve been fortunate to attend some of the biggest and best sporting events in the world over the years, I’ve never seen anything like this. From the media centre and the merchandise store the size of a small shopping centre to the number of food outlets and hospitality suites.

The attention to detail is incredible. With practice play for the day complete I watched as the team of greenkeepers set to work on the first green. From my vantage point, some 20-feet away, it looked impeccable. But then Steve Chappell, the PGA Centenary Course’s head greenkeeper, spotted a blemish and within seconds was handed a seed mixture to fix the ‘problem’. As he did that there was another greenkeeper using scissors to trim the grass around a sprinkler, while a third blew the freshly trimmed rough back into shape. Then there was a lengthy discussion about green speed, stimp measurements and some detailed analysis of the pin positions. All of that work for one green of one hole. Imagine how much attention it has taken in the preceeding months simply to get to that stage.

When I last visited Gleneagles in May to interview some of the key men and women behind the event’s organisation, the resort was busy (it always is) but I still managed to stand beside the PGA Centenary Course’s 1st tee while chatting on the phone, undisturbed for some 40 minutes. Back then the groundwork for grandstands and suites had just begun. Today, overlooked by those vast structures adorned with quotes from Seve and with floodlights beaming down towards me from Sky’s impressive studio, I’d managed to stand in the same spot for a matter of seconds before the crowds and a steward forced me to move on. Seconds later the European team coach drove through as the players headed for the Gala Dinner in Glasgow.

In total on Wednesday I walked six holes in the unexpected but very welcome sunshine. All six were so perfect that you’d struggle to believe they’d ever seen a golf ball, let alone been played hours earlier. While the course has had its critics it will make for an incredible event. The vantage points are superb, specially between 9 and 10, and the opportunities for matches to turn on their head are countless.

The impression from fellow journalists is that the European team seem far more relaxed, laughing and joking during interviews and photo sessions and clearly enjoying their time on the course. The Americans are said to seem more serious, perhaps less together – or could it just be that they’re supremely focused on avenging 2012?

Away from the heat of the battle and pressure of course preparation I managed to catch up with Tony Johnstone who, during an hilarious 15-minute storytelling session, said he expects the match to be far tighter than many are predicting.

Crowds through the gates were far greater today than on Tuesday and are expected to increase further on Thursday. There’ll certainly be a crowd in the interview room at 8.30am when ‘Europe’s Postman’ Ian Poulter talks to the press. On the course the players are expected to take in nine holes before a pro-celebrity challenge featuring Colin Montgomerie, Mark James, Corey Pavin, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Jamie Redknapp keeps the thousands entertained. From there it’s down to the short course where the opening ceremony will be held and the opening pairings will finally be revealed. There will always be the odd surprise, so expect Tom Watson to pair Rickie Fowler with ‘Jiimmy’ Walker, while Rory and Kaymer, currently holding three Majors and a Players Championship between them, are fancied to start Europe’s bid at 7.36am on Friday.

Follow @thetodaysgolfer on Twitter for live coverage of the announcement and insight throughout the day.

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