The Ryder Cup fear

The Grey Goose Par-3 World Championship dinner saw two Ryder Cup veterans reminisce about their utter terror of teeing off at the start of golf’s biggest team event.

Hosted by the Golf Channel’s Charlie Rymer, Ronan Rafferty and Barry Lane, as well as presenter Win McMurray, were all welcomed onto the couch on stage to face questions in front of a packed auditorium at the Fairmont Southampton.

The most entertaining topics revolved around the genius of Seve Ballesteros and Rafferty’s and Lane’s experience of Ryder Cup golf, which returns to the calendar this year at Gleneagles, Scotland.

Rafferty, who won the European Tour’s order of merit in 1989, also represented Europe in the same year at The Belfry.

He says the memory of his opening shot was among the ‘most frightening experiences of my life’.

He told the audience: “Absolutely straight up, the first tee is probably the most frightening experience of your life and I was white as a sheet.

“I was very fortunate, I was playing well, winning tournaments and leading the order of merit, and I had made the team and it was a natural progression. 

“This was an event you had only seen on TV and now you were in the heart of it all.

“Monday’s great, it’s practice, Tuesday you get all the gear, Wednesday’s the same, Thursday you get a little bit nervous, then the opening ceremony happens, then they announce the team. 

“I was playing with Bernard Langer — Masters champion, won loads of tournaments and it was absolutely fabulous. And that was until you turned up on Friday morning! 

“You have no idea whether you’ve played before, whether you’re going to make contact with it, all this stuff about routine — what routine? I was certainly not going to hit an iron! I was going to hit three wood because at least it would hit off some area of the club face.

“I hit this shot off the tie, 47 waggles… and it was heading straight to the tree… it clipped a few branches and went into the left-hand trap 225 yards down the left-hand side — I have never been more delighted with a shot!”

For Lane, who played for Europe in 1993, also at The Belfry, there were similar nerves.

He recalls watching the normally-tough Corey Pavin get a case of the wobblies.

Lane said: “My best Ryder Cup memory would be walking to the first tee. 

“I played the first day in the afternoon with Bernard Langer and to have that feeling of being sick from the putting green to the first tee with 30,000 people cheering for you…

“We were playing Corey Pavin and Lanny Wadkins, two real tough nuts, and to see Corey Pavin try to get the ball on the tee with his hand shaking so much was amazing, he was so tough, won millions of tournaments , was a great player, and when he stood his knees were like this [shaking] — it was unbelievable.

“That gave me so much heart because I was feeling exactly the same.”