On his decision to play in the Ryder Cup: "It was a very tough decision. I wouldn't have played if I thought I couldn't have benefited the team and that was the bottom line. I know Heather would have wanted me to play so I made myself available.

The fact that I have played reasonably well in Ryder Cups in the past, that it's in Ireland and it's matchplay helped me to decide. Matchplay was a huge reason for me playing."

On whether he thought he might be coming back a bit soon: "No. Not really. Heather was diagnosed two weeks after the last Ryder Cup, so I've had basically two years of it. It's not as if it's happened out of the blue. It's been something that's been building up. I knew this was going to happen as most people do in that situation. I was thinking about it a lot and came to the conclusion that I think is the right one."

On the decision he had to make: "I had to do a bit of thinking and I wasn't going to come to any rash decision when Heather passed away. I spent a good deal of time thinking about whether I should or shouldn't play. The main reason being that if I was to play and not feel able to I'd be letting my team-mates down and that is the last thing I'd want to do."

On whether being on a golf course is a release from the grief: "I don't know . . . but it's me getting back to normality, getting back to my way of life and what I did before. Life has changed now and my priorit ies are my kids. I have to get back to work at some stage. I'm here this week to try and compete in the tournament. Next week I have one of the biggest events in the world that I am really looking forward to playing in."

On whether Heather's support and strength facilitated his decision to play in the Ryder Cup: "Yes. She was always very much behind me, pushing me out there, kicking me out the door to go and play tournaments. She would want me to play. She wasn't the sort of person who would want me to sit about and mope at home. She would want me to get out there working again as long as the boys were okay."

On coping with what will be an emotive week at The K Club: "I will get myself through it. Nobody else. My team will help me and the support from everybody else will help me but I will deal with it and I will get through it and I will enjoy the week."