Reasons to be cheerful. The grin was omnipresent, despite incurring the wrath of a course anxious to bite, and Darren Clarke, a rookie uncle after the birth of his nephew Andrew and a new boy on Europe's Ryder Cup team, shot a glance in his captain's direction after finding another undesirable lie in a bunker.
This time, the sand hazard lay to the right of the seventh fairway. Seve Ballesteros, trailing the match in a buggy, could only offer a shrug as some form of comfort. After Clarke's next shot the skipper could extend more concrete help, like looking for the Irishman's ball in the rough. Ballesteros, more than anyone, is an expert in such matters. Not surprisingly, the Spaniard found it.
Day one of Clarke's life as a Ryder Cup player. No sign of nerves. "But, then," he interjects, "it isn't Friday yet, and if my knees are not knocking together then there will be something wrong." Clarke was joking his way around the Valderrama course in the sort of leisurely fourball that wouldn't be out of place on any course in Ireland on a Sunday afternoon. The good life.
Yesterday's first series of practice matches saw Clarke paired with Europe's number one Colin Montgomerie, a cocktail of ScotsIrish, in a fourball with the latin temperaments of Jose-Maria Olazabal and Costantino Rocca.
A good-humoured outing. With Monty some 10 feet from the hole, the closest of the quartet, on the eighth, Olazabal inquired: "How about a half?" "I think we'll carry on, if you don't mind," retorted Montgomerie, to which Rocca, in reply, proceeded to sink a 20-footer.
Then, Clarke's 12-foot par effort slid by. "Should have taken the offer," said the Scot, wistfully, before saving his blushes by sinking his tricky right-to-left downhill putt.
The Celtic alliance didn't quite ignite (some would say the right day not to, other more important days are lying ahead) eventually losing 3 and 2. "But we got on well, really, even if we lost this one," said Clarke. A hint towards Friday's opening day pairings?
In an ideal world, Clarke would probably love to team up with Lee Westwood, a close friend and another member of Chuby Chandler's stable. "We could probably do very well, but I don't think Seve would put two rookies out together. He'd prefer to put the new boys out with a guiding hand, I think. But, then, you never know how his mind works." Indeed.
The vibes, however, point to a Clarke-Montgomerie partnership. It wouldn't be a bad thing either, one suspects. Certainly, the chemistry is good and there is no shortage of talent; even if Ollie, who opened with five birdies in seven holes, and Rocky did buck them up a bit yesterday.
By the time they reached the 17th, the "friendly" match was over. Still, Ballesteros was again on hand to offer some advice on the hole which he redesigned. "The hole is not unfair, just tricky," is Clarke's assessment. And, yesterday, he had the cheek to ignore Ballesteros's fatherly words. As he prepared to hit a seven iron third shot (after finding the rough off the tee and playing out), Ballesteros turned to Clarke's caddie, Billy Foster, and told him it should be a six iron. Clarke played his seven iron. "I'm glad it was the right club, otherwise Billy would have got a rap from Seve."
Clarke, the 15th Irishman to play in a Ryder Cup match, is ready for the task ahead. Confident. "This is the biggest week of my golfing life," he explains. "Probably the biggest week of my career. Playing in the Ryder Cup has been a goal, a target of mine, for a long, long time and I am looking forward to it."
The matchplay element adds a new dimension to Clarke's return to a course where he finished runner-up to Montgomerie in the Volvo Masters in 1993. "I think the course is set up tougher this week than any other time I have been here," claims Clarke. "The rough is deeper than it has been, putting a premium on keeping the ball on the fairways. However, the greens are the slowest I've ever experienced them, and it is tough to hit the ball that bit harder on them."
Clarke, though, is a fierce competitor. For much of the season, his thoughts have been focused on the European Tour money list and the quest to be number one. "This week I am only thinking about one thing - the Ryder Cup. Everything else has been put away. I want to play here to the very best of my ability. "I love matchplay. I believe it is a great leveller. Over 18 holes anyone can beat anybody else, and I'm convinced I have the ability to beat anyone. Matchplay is the key, because results can go against the head. That is part of its beauty, and probably why we have done so well in the Ryder Cup."
Certainly, Clarke, as relaxed as has looked all season, is ready for the fray . . . and the Seve factor has also affected him. "I can recall watching the Open on television in 1979 when Seve played his shot from the car park. That is my first real memory of him, but he has been an inspiration to every young golfer in Europe for the past two decades. Seve and Nick (Faldo) were the men who led the way for Europe's golfers," he says.
"It is great to come over here this week and have Seve as the captain. He has inspired us all. It would be great to achieve some of the goals he managed in his own career, and the Ryder Cup is a good starting point. It is all about winning this week, and that is what really matters to us all. There will be no individual credit, it is all about the team."
The team. That, really, is the bottom line.
