Seve Ballesteros stood on the first tee at Druid's Glen this morning waiting with eager anticipation for the starter to formerly get proceedings underway in his own ten-man team event where Britain and Ireland take on continental Europe over the Wicklow course for the next three days.
The mercurial Spaniard from yesteryear cut a fatherlike figure as he watched Denamrk's Thomas Bjorn drive the first tee-shot of the 2002 Seve Trophy, followed by his lofty playing partner Sweden's Robert Karlsson.
The Scandinavian pair take on Scottish duo Colin Montgomerie, GB&I captain, and 1999 Open winner Paul Lawrie in the opening greensome tie on a clear brisk morning.
The Europeans wasted no time getting into their stride, opening with three birdies to take a two hole advantage.
This has been a much sought after match team event considering the postponement of last year's Ryder Cup after September 11th.
Media cranes being hoisted into the sky by the BBC, with any number of media officials scurrying from temporary headquarters in their buggies below illustrated the profile the event commands.
Half an hour after the opening tee-shot, the all-Irish pair of Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley took to the course for their match against Germany's Alex Cejka and Sweden's Mathias Gronberg. They halved the first in par fours.
Darren Clarke followed in the last match, where he and Lee Westwood take on Raphael Jacquelin and Thomas Levet, both from France.
Ian Woosnam and England's Steve Webster were all square after two holes against Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez in the second tie.
In greensomes both players in any given pairing hit their tee shots, from there they select the best and take alternate shots to complete the hole. Similar to tennis, where the players have the second serve option, the golfers can also have a second tee shot to fall back on.