Hard-to-please MJ

The crowd was simply amazing at the first tee yesterday, filling up the grandstand almost an hour before the start and lining the fairway 15-20-man deep. But Michael Jordan was still not impressed!

The NBA legend, who has become such a permanent fixture of Team USA in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and was singled out by Ian Poulter as the one who tried to get under his skin at Medinah, said of the first-tee experience: “I thought it was entertaining. Those guys were really synchronised and it was fun to hear them. Nothing like Medinah though. I thought it was a lot louder.”

First-tee pressure

Not just the players, but even announcer Ivor Robson was stricken by nerves on the first tee. The seasoned announcer made the first mistake of the day in the 2014 Ryder Cup when he identified Webb Simpson as Bubba Watson. That was the first tee shot to be hit.

Robson’s nervousness was infectious, and Simpson caught it. The 2012 US Open champion hit what was easily the worst opening tee shot of the day, skying his three-wood and barely reaching the fairway.

Another player affected by the first tee atmosphere was local hero Stephen Gallacher. Competing in his debut Ryder Cup and in the company of Ian Poulter, the Scotsman understandably received a rousing welcome, but sliced his tee shot horribly into the fairway bunker.

Bubba’s at it again
When Bubba Watson claimed at the start of the week that he won’t be performing the cheerleader’s role for his team, he was lying.

The American gave the crowd of Gleneagles a taste of his Medinah antics when he put his hands to his ears and urged the crowd to raise the decibel level before striking his tee shot on the first.

The crowd responded just as Bubba wanted, and it was a lovely moment, but nothing went right for him and Webb Simpson after that.Maybe he’ll choose to tone it down today.