Clarke: My Europe team will be ready for US Ryder Cup crowds

“Home advantage is huge and it’s part and parcel of the Ryder Cup. But I think the likes of Sergio or Poults have been on the tour too long to let something like that affect them.”

Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke is confident his players will be able to handle the partisan atmosphere when he leads Europe’s defence of the trophy against a United States team which will be “baying for blood”.

The biennial contest has been played in an excellent spirit since 2002 after previously being marred by a number of unsavoury incidents, most notably 1991’s ’War on the Shore’ at Kiawah Island and the ’Battle of Brookline’ in 1999.