Woods in his element as vice-captain

last night that you can do whatever you want when we get back and the next thing I know, we had the whole team in our dining room sitting around listening to Phil [Mickelson], Tiger, Brandt [Snedeker] and Jim [Furyk] telling stories,” said US captain Davis Love III. “It was just non-stop Ryder Cup stories.”

The dynamic has changed a bit these days. Woods’s sheer single-mindedness was a key part of his brilliance during his pomp but one which impacted negatively on his image, particularly in relation to the Ryder Cup. In 33 matches, he picked up 14 ½ points, a figure which is in stark contrast to his 14 Major wins. Finding a suitable partner for him in the Ryder Cup was a bit like trying to forge a successful marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor. Many tried it but most simply failed.

Woods and Mickelson were arch enemies on the golf course as they went at it hammer and tongs but that frosty relationship has thawed to the point where they are both all in it for the greater good of the American cause. “We all come into the Ryder Cup as individuals but once you play it, you figure it out and say, ‘Wait a minute, this is all about the team’,” added Love. “Phil figured it out, Tiger figured it out. They became team leaders. I’ll never forget Jack Nicklaus saying that Phil was his most valuable player at a Presidents Cup and he got zero points. He’d figured out how to support his team-mates and make his team better. That’s what Tiger has figured out.”

As the main driver of the USA’s all-bases-covered Task Force, Mickelson, who has played in every Ryder Cup since 1995, is a hugely vocal presence in the team room to the point where you’re almost thinking, ‘Who is the captain here?’ Love is more than happy to have this sizeable influence looming large, though. “Phil always has a theory,” he said. “I used to say he was 50/50 on those theories. Then I gave him 75 per cent and now I’m moving up to maybe 80 per cent. I like the way he thinks.”

By all accounts, it appears that the US team room is a good place to be. “I just feel a little more calm,” said Jordan Spieth, who made his cup debut at Gleneagles in 2014. “Our experience over there was pretty tense. This one feels different.”