Comment: Do we really need the contrived electricity on the first tee?

For all the hype and expectation surrounding the Ryder Cup’s first tee this week, there was something not quite right about the atmosphere as the opening shots were fired at Le Golf National.

Everything was in place, from the much-vaunted 6,000-seat wraparound grandstand that towered over the tee box to the colourful crowd and the interaction with the golfers as the heroes from Europe and the United States entered the arena.

So it was surprising how it all felt somehow out of kilter.

Perhaps it was the presence of a hospitality box behind a corner of the tee box, the prawn sandwich brigade looming uneasily over the scene. Or maybe it was the cheesy music blasting out of the public address system that could be heard from outside the gates before the sun had come up.

Certainly, the over-enthusiastic deejay would have served his audience a little better with the laidback stoicism of golf’s actual DJ, Dustin Johnson.

The key to a good atmosphere at any sporting event is the organic nature in which it develops, building momentum and ebbing and flowing appropriately. It doesn’t need a clown on a microphone to create electricity. There was no impetus needed at Gleneagles in 2014 and two years later at Hazeltine, the Americans finally got the hang of the overture, even if things got wild later as the beers kicked in.

It has all crackled with energy and, out on the course on the opening day, it was likewise at Le Golf National yet everything felt just a bit too contrived from ground level at the first tee.

Thankfully, the clown had screamed himself hoarse by the time it came to the business of the day but by then the packed grandstand had taken over, seemingly picking up on the vibe by trying a little too hard.

Even Europe’s self-appointed Guardians of the Cup fell silent. The group of eight blokes who dress in yellow and blue waistcoats and plus-fours and describe themselves as hopelessly obsessed with golf have become a hallmark of the opening morning’s fun and games with witty, tailor-made chants for each of the European players.

Yet here they were overtaken by the orchestrated noise and the monster they helped to create, lost in a sea of thousands.

It was not without its moments, the Icelandic thunderclap has become a fixture, conducted by the European players although the crowd over-reached when pleading with a taciturn Tiger Woods to join in. “Tiger, start the clap…” they asked with a chant that inevitably fell on deaf ears.

It was the one moment that probably deserved a good-hearted pantomime boo but there was too much of the negative yesterday morning as each of the American pairings was on the wrong end from a section of the crowd.

Maybe it’s a French thing. It happens frequently at the tennis over at Roland Garros but on a golf course it jarred. Yet another aspect of this opening-day theatre that fluffed its lines.