GOLF/Ryder Cup: Do you know, the Americans are obsessed with Darren Clarke. Once the fascination had to do with his cultivated image as a beer-swilling, cigar-chomping, overweight Irishman with a zest for life in the fast lane who preferred the physical exertion of lifting pints of Guinness to weights in the gym.

Now, the obsession has to do with the fact he no longer swills beer, isn't overweight and, after countless hours on the treadmill, looks like a professional athlete rather than a caricature of the stage Irishman from The Quiet Man.

Yesterday, as he got reacquainted with the Oakland Hills course (he missed the cut in the US Open here in 1996), Clarke was asked what element of his dietary and fitness regime he most missed, what was the hardest to give up? He gave a one-word, honest answer. "Beer!" he said.

Yet, it's for weeks like this Clarke abandoned such worldly delights.

"I hope the regime will help me this week. I've done it to get myself in better shape so that at the end of tournaments I won't make so many mistakes. This is a very demanding week, both mentally and physically, (so) if Bernhard (Langer) decides to play me twice during one of the days then hopefully I'll be in better shape coming down the last few holes than I would have been in the past. That's the whole reason for undertaking the regime."

Clarke, competing in his fourth successive Ryder Cup, and now one of the veterans of this European team that includes five rookies, knows he will be expected to carry his weight, metaphorically not literally, once the competition finally gets under way.

Although his contribution in the team-room is likely to be more refined than the giddy answer he gave to the questioner who wondered what advice he'd give to any rookie who approached him.

"I'd tell him to get to the toilet before you play on the first day," he responded.

Indeed, even for someone who has experienced the pressure of appearing on the first tee on the first day, it's something that is hard to prepare for.

"It's very nerve-wracking on that first tee for everybody, all of the players, and there are no exemptions. You want to get that moment to savour and, at the same time, just go and play and go and enjoy it, but it's very difficult sometimes to enjoy it when you're under that much pressure."

From past Ryder Cup experiences, Clarke knows the walk to the first tee on Friday is tinged with nerves.

"I remember when Lee (Westwood) was going to the first at Valderrama, Seve (Ballesteros) passed him some cotton wool to put in his ears so that he could not hear the crowds on the first tee. And then there was the time I was playing with Monty on the Saturday morning, playing against Davis Love and Freddie Couples, and I was teeing the ball up, ready to hit it, and I made sure I teed it up a little bit higher to just hope that I made contact with it on the way down. Unfortunately, I veered a little too far to the left. But I managed to find it."

Yesterday was not a day for nerves. With a mist enveloping the first fairway in a scene straight from an artist's canvas, Clarke struck his opening tee-shot in a practice round in which he played with Paul Casey and David Howell.

"I'm pleased to play with anybody, it doesn't bother me who I play with," he said, claiming nobody should read too much into Langer's choice of practice partners. Not yesterday, at any rate. "Just now, it's more about getting to know the course," added Clarke.

The European team has travelled here with much higher expectations than in the past, bolstered by a series of wins in recent weeks by team members. But Clarke expects the team bonding to replicate that of other teams.

"We're the perennial underdogs, so it's always easier for us to pull together," he observed. "The bond we get with fellow players this week is like nothing else, because week-in and week-out you're trying to beat the same guys you're now pulling for.

"Being a part of a team is something we don't experience too often, so whenever you do experience it, and you're part of a winning team, it's very, very special."

In two of his three previous Ryder Cup appearances, Clarke has savoured being part of a winning team - although his own record of four wins (none in singles play) and two halved points from 12 matches is one he'd like to improve. And, this time, he doesn't believe the inclusion of five rookies on the European team will be a negative factor.

"They're all guys who've played a lot on the (US) PGA Tour, which wasn't the case in years gone by. I think we, as Europeans, feel very strongly about our team this week."

Incidentally, Clarke, casting his thoughts ahead to the K Club in 2006, when Ireland will play host to the match for the first time, has all but conceded there won't be an Irish captain on that occasion.

"I was of the initial opinion that there should be an Irish captain but, now, I think it'll be somebody within the vice-captain's ranks.

"I think we as a team in Europe need the best captain we can have to give us the best chance of winning, so, whoever that may be, I'm sure they will do a great job."

For now, though, the task is focused on attempting to ensure Europe will be defending the Ryder Cup at the K Club, rather than attempting to regain it.