Quail Hollow Diary: Captains lead by example as Ryder Cup phoney war starts early  

One former champion conspicuous by his absence all week was Phil Mickelson. He may be firmly in his LIV cartoon villain era these days but it’s only four years ago that he sensationally won his second Wanamaker at the age of 51.

DIARY: For a brief window early Thursday morning, the leaderboard was identical to a promo graphic for September’s Ryder Cup. The two names up in lights atop it all were Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley, the respective captains for the Bethpage showdown. Pic: Alex Slitz/Getty Images

For a brief window early Thursday morning, the leaderboard was identical to a promo graphic for September’s Ryder Cup. The two names up in lights atop it all were Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley, the respective captains for the Bethpage showdown. They'd stay close as the day wore on.

Donald had the honour of hitting the tournament’s opening shot at dawn and then turned in a sparkling, bogey-free 67 for an early clubhouse lead. Trying to keep his European counterpart all square, Bradley missed a tiddler for birdie on 17 and then smudged the card with his first bogey on 18. Europe one up, then. Was this a battle before the war?