No mystery guests at this Ryder Cup

“Chipping” but offered a mild complaint about putting access.

“I really wanted to putt on the putting green that the Ryder Cup players are going to be on,” he told his dad.

Understandable, considering that the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, and a cast of other world-class golfers tee up this morning for golf’s main event.

Fox lamented that today his boss expects him at work. Louis Giovi, Sr. admitted a similar obligation.

But players like Durfee, Erbeck, Policano, and others have real reason to complain about feeling under the weather. (Cough. Pain. Sniffle).

“My son, Louis, cracked me up. He told me to feel his ankle because it hurt. I laughed like crazy,” Giovi, Sr. said. “Louis has never had an injury his entire life. But this is great. I’m all excited as a grownup. I can only imagine how all these kids feel.”

MEDINAH, Ill. — The question used to come up every other year when the Americans began looking ahead to the Ryder Cup. “Who’s their Peter Baker?” Europe always had at least one player the Americans didn’t know anything about until losing to him. Baker played in only one Ryder Cup, going 3-1 in 1993 and winning a singles match against Corey Pavin, one of the toughest guys to beat in match play.

Those days are gone. As golf has expanded its borders, the Ryder Cup no longer has any mystery guests.

Eight of the Europeans have joint membership on the PGA Tour, and all eight have homes in Florida. Luke Donald of England, who has the best winning percentage of anyone at Medinah, lives about 45 minutes away on the north side of Chicago. The only Ryder Cup rookie for Europe is Nicolas Colsaerts, the big hitter from Belgium. With the majors and World Golf Championships, he already has played eight times in America this year, and has been invited to play in a PGA Tour event in two weeks in California. There are no surprises in this Ryder Cup, only stars. “Both teams are pretty much even and it’s going to be a close match,” European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said. “I don’t see any favorites.”