Gallacher still cool, calm and collected

Playing in a first Ryder Cup would be potentially nerve racking but to do so in your own country, as Scotland stage the tournament for only the second time in their history and the first in 40 years, must be daunting.

Stephen Gallacher is no callow youth and that maturity, he's 39, will be a valuable asset in dealing with the build-up. Yesterday it was his turn to climb up on the dais in the media centre and articulate his feelings; quizzed as to how excited he was in being excited, if you get the drift.

He’s not exactly suggesting that he’s nonplussed about the experience but neither does he want to convey the image of a giddy schoolboy. It’s his ability to manage the emotional side of the game that will permit him to deliver physically.

One distraction was a practice round on Tuesday in the company of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, primarily because he had to cough up £150. He laughed: "Rosie holed a bunker shot on the last. He had [won] a ten skinner [10skins] on one of the holes, which was a sore one. It cost me £150.

“Still it was great. They are good mates of mine. It was good to play with them. I came up a couple of weeks ago and had a look at the last couple of years’ pin positions. I had the books and noted a few breaks [on the greens] and whatnot.

“I was just giving them a bit of info, because they don’t really know the course that well. I gave them info of where the pins are, important things, reads on the greens, where the wind normally comes from. If I can help in any way, I’m delighted with that.” Come tomorrow morning he would dearly love a more central role.

There was a time when he thought the Ryder Cup might pass him by but watching the 2012 contest at Medinah unfold inspired him to redouble his efforts. Gallacher said: "I definitely thought it had [gone], but I made a conscious effort a couple of years ago to get in this one."