Two-time Dubai Desert Classic champion Stephen Gallacher expects a baptism of fire at the Ryder Cup this week, but he believes all the hard work he has put in will see him pull through it all.

At 39, Gallacher is the second-oldest European rookie in the history of the event, having benefitted from one of captain Paul McGinley's three wildcard picks.

And as the sole Scot on the 12-man team, he knows that the pressure to perform on home soil at Gleneagles will be all the more intense.

But Gallacher intends to use the crowd support, and the fact that he knows the course far better than any of the other 23 players, to his advantage.

That and the fact that his uncle Bernard is a past European Ryder Cup player and a captain.

Asked how useful it was to have in the family someone so steeped in Ryder Cup lore as his uncle, Gallacher replied: "Certainly he's experienced enough, he's played in eight and the captaincy and vice, too.

"I spent the week with him when my gran was ill in the hospital, and he was sort of chatting away, basically giving good advice. "He says, 'You're going to have long, long days, so it's all about conserving your energy.'

"Ultimately he wants me to enjoy myself, take a time-out to soak it in. You know, just be yourself, play your own game."

Playing his own game for Gallacher over the last two years has been a long, painstaking hike. Long touted as the heir to Colin Montgomerie as a world class golfer from Scotland, Gallacher struggled for years to live up to his potential.

At one stage he thought his lifelong dream of matching uncle Bernard and playing in the Ryder Cup had gone, but he decided to give it one last try.

"I made a conscious effort a couple years ago to get in this (Ryder Cup)," he said. "Especially for my generation, it's never going to be here again. It's a course that I like in your home country.

"Just improved every single part of my game, whether it be mental, whether it be nutrition. Injury prevention, down to my equipment, swing tinkering, the way I go about things, you know, your routines, absolutely everything.

"You get a little bit better in every aspect, and the overall, the big picture gets better through that."

The hard work paid dividends, culminating in the biggest win of his career at last year's Dubai Desert Classic, a title he successfully defended in February to become the only player ever to win the tournament in successive years. 

A mixed batch of results in the summer meant that Gallacher fell agonisingly short of ensuring for himself one of the nine automatic qualifying spots for Gleneagles, but the spirit he showed late on convinced McGinley to call him into the team. Now it is all a matter of him enjoying the occasion and producing his best golf.

"It was my lifetime ambition. It was my goal to get here. I'm proud that I'm here," he said. "I am very excited, and it is a bit surreal still, because I live so close.

"But it's one I'm embracing and just trying to use the positive energy, and the crowd is going to be spectacular as well, and it's just going to be really entertaining."