The troops are impatient for battle. "This is like going to a dentist for a filling," said Colin Montgomerie. "You know the injection is coming - and you wish it was over with." One suspected that the Scot was reflecting the mood of both teams, as tensions heightened at Valderrama yesterday.

If the old hands were feeling on edge, it was particularly difficult for the five rookies in the European line-up. With a look of resignation, Darren Clarke said: "I'm hitting the ball solidly. There's nothing more I can do. It's now up to Seve."

Clarke had just completed a somewhat confusing practice session in which he played eight holes of foursomes with Ignacio Garrido and the remaining 10 in partnership with Lee Westwood. And along the way, he received a lesson in bunker play from the master.

It happened at the ninth where the Irishman found himself on the downslope of a greenside trap. Complaining that there wasn't much sand in the bunker, Clarke thinned two recovery attempts. But his captain decided that a lack of sand wasn't the problem.

Ballesteros, a moderately useful exponent of the wedge, noticed that instead of following the line of the sand on the follow-through, the player was raising the club at impact. "I told Darren to keep the clubface lower than the ball and straightaway, it was a perfect shot," said the Spaniard.

Clarke's view? "Sure, Seve's a genius at those shots and I was only too happy to take his advice. We sorted it out in a matter of seconds." Ballesteros then insisted that if he saw problems when battle commenced, he would not wait for a player to seek his advice. "Even if it is Nick Faldo, I will take action immediately," he said.

Which could cause problems. One recalls the situation beside the 18th at Oak Hill two years ago when Ballesteros vocally disagreed with the manner in which David Gilford was attempting to chip the ball on to the green in his match with Brad Faxon. But the then skipper, Bernard Gallacher, insisted that the player be left alone. Gilford stumbled his own way - and won.

Even though Westwood sank a five-footer on the 18th to share the money with Faldo and Garrido for the last 10 holes, Clarke's partnerships yesterday didn't augur well for his prospects of playing in the foursomes. It seems unlikely that the skipper would put rookies together, certainly not on the opening day.

Meanwhile, one could hardly have wished for better golfing weather as preparation entered its closing stage. Valderrama's greens, which were surprisingly slow early in the week, were gradually increasing in pace and will probably reach a potentially frightening 12 on the Stimpmeter by the weekend.

The US team looked to be very solid in play during the morning. Brad Faxon, noted for his wonderful putting touch but notoriously wayward off the tee, seemed to have found a highly effective feel with the driver. Indeed his skipper, Tom Kite, was prompted to remark later: "I have never seen Brad drive the ball better."

The Americans remained somewhat irritated, however, by the notorious 17th, with its obtrusive humps at driving distance, followed by a 20-yard strip of rough. Ironically, it was after Miguel-Angel Jimenez had carded an albatross, eagle and two birdies there during the Volvo Masters three years ago that these modifications were introduced by Ballesteros. And Jimenez happens to be assistant to the said designer, for this week's assignment.

Clearly disinterested in the American reaction, Ballesteros also preempted any potential criticism from his own camp when he said: "If the European players don't like the 17th, the solution is to win their matches by 3 and 2."

Kite seems remarkably composed about his work. "I learned a lot from discussions I had last winter with Tom Watson and Lanny Wadkins, particularly Lanny," he explained. "They told me that the most important thing was to budget my time efficiently. If I didn't do that, I could be overwhelmed by the job."

In fact the strait-laced Texan appears to have left nothing to chance, even to the point of studying long-range weather forecasts. "I found that to be important with regard to the sort of clothes we would bring," he said. "Unlike The Belfry, there are no cashmere sweaters this time: they're all lightweight."

One of the most interesting quartets in action was the foursomes battle in which Davis Love and Fred Couples beat Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson by 2 and 1. Given their four successive World Cup triumphs for the US from 1992 to 1995, Couples and Love deserve to be rated as golf's outstanding partnership since Ballesteros and Jose-Maria Olazabal.

Yet according to Love, his captain faces a tough task in naming the American partnerships here. "Everybody on the team has been playing pretty well recently," he said. Then Love made the fascinating observation: "I think Tom's strategy is to get the best putters out there as often as possible."

The American went on to explain: "I think this is going to turn into a big putting contest and Brad (Faxon), Tiger and (Jim) Furyk are putting very well at the moment. Then there is Phil's (Mickelson) great short game. I wouldn't be surprised to see these players being used a lot."

Was there a danger of underestimating the Europeans? "Certainly not," he replied. "I think the pressure is really on us because we are coming and trying to take something away from them. Losing at Oak Hill put the pressure back on us. We might edge them out as far as the rankings go, but they beat us in world wins and major titles."

Though individual players are anxious about how they rate in their captain's thoughts, both teams appear to be remarkably relaxed given the high-powered build-up the event has had, almost since the start of the year. "I think the atmosphere between the two teams is very good," said Olazabal, who had a memorable debut at Muirfield Village 10 years ago.

He went on: "When I started back playing in Dubai this year, it barely crossed my mind that I'd get the chance to play in the Ryder Cup. So, I'm pretty happy right now. After the 18 months of hell that I went through, being here as part of the team; being with team-mates from years ago, is very special.

"There is obviously going to be a lot of pressure when the tournament is played but we're all professionals; we play together during the year and we'll be doing our best to win. I don't think there should be anything else to it."

Quite so. But things are never that simple. As Montgomerie put it: "Seve has the whole of Europe watching him right now and the Miguel Martin thing didn't help. In a way, the captain is in a no-win situation, just like Jack Nicklaus was in 1987, when the Ryder Cup was played in his home state on his own course."

The Scot then highlighted the extent to which Ballesteros is dominating this event. "I'd hate to imagine the sight of him handing over the cup to Tom Kite," he said. "It would turn him into a bubbling wreck. Personally, I'd rather see him become a bubbling wreck because we've won the cup again."

A fascinating battle looms. And for the players, it can't come soon enough.