Tunnel vision: Players must walk the walk to conquer nerves

The walk from the Gleneagles practice area to the packed arena of the first tee of the PGA Centenary Course is a long one for the players, and not just in terms of distance.

A first tee shot in this biennial dust-up between Europe and the United States is, by common consent, the most nerve-wracking in golf as players put aside their weekly campaigns for individual success and prize money to focus on collective glory. The pressure has been rising continually over the past few matches as organisers have cottoned on to the drama that unfolds at the first tee and have added grandstands to the point where the scene at Gleneagles’ opening hole looks more like the 18th green at a Major championship.

And what adds to the effect of gladiators entering the coliseum is that the players’ walk takes them through a tunnel, its walls lined with 10 Ryder Cup heroes from each side, under a road and then up a slope into the arena. If that, and the images of Nicklaus and Jacklin, Watson and Ballesteros et al, does not force a golfer to contemplate his fate then nothing will.