What an Electric Day...

As a golf fan, nothing can possibly prepare you for the electricity of the first tee at a Ryder Cup - I had my morning coffee doing spin cycles in my stomach - can't image how the players must feel. When the European players would come down off the bridge from the putting green and make their way over to the tee, it was like two gladiators entering the Colosseum - the sheer crush of noise was staggering. The faithful patrons were chanting and singing songs like, "There's only two Molinaris, only two Molinaris..." while as one of 5 or 6 (at most) US fans in the surrounding area, I made sure to chime in with calls for "Phillllll" etc. There was one guy, god bless 'em, that kept standing up and giving it back to the European fans - to which the hecklers would reply "You've only got one song!" Brilliant stuff. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to attend a regular PGA Tour event again after this. 

The sun was shining and the boots were muddy from yesterday's deluge at Celtic Manor as I followed a few of the matches. I found myself immediately impressed by Rickie Fowler's composure in his first Ryder Cup, playing alongside Jim Furyk. I would be fortunate enough at the end of the day to also see them come up 18, where Rickie would hole a putt to halve the match with Westwood and Kaymer. 

Rickie was one of the guys who was really wearing the beautiful cashmere cardigan ensemble well - keeping it youthful. Another was Zach Johnson. (Both chose the sleeveless option.) I was happy to see one of the bolder options from the lineup of PM apparel get to come out today. Say what you will about the color of the cardigans, but I've been just sick of seeing red, white and blue on guys for a week. I am a huge fan of the risk the PGA, the Pavins and PM took with doing something a little different and totally pulling it off. 

With Sun Mountain taking a fair share of flak for the "performance issues" with their team rain suits yesterday, it was also nice to see the weather clear up and be on with it, although I'm sure we're going to see our fair share of rain these next two days before the matches are completed.