The wait is finally over as Ryder Cup week is now upon us. For the next seven days the K Club in Kildare will be the centre of the golfing universe as years of anticipation gets replaced by live action as the world's golfing fraternity look in to see if Ian Woosnam's European team can live up to their favourite's tag against Tom Lehman's American side.
Today is very much a house-keeping exercise as Woosnam, flanked by his two vice-captains, Des Smyth and Peter Baker, greeted Lehman and the American team when they landed at Dublin Airport, albeit after a three hour delay.
Both captains spoke briefly at the airport before making their way to the K Club. Lehman said he was pleased with how prepared and focused his team are.
"Everybody has been working very hard to be prepared," said Lehman. "The preparation takes different forms. Some guys play the week before and some go to tournaments just focusing on a part of their game they need to work on. They don't care about the results.
"You always take confidence in your guys playing well but you certainly don't lose heart if they don't. One year I missed the cut at the BC Open by 10 shots the week before the Ryder Cup and had a great Ryder Cup. I don't read anything into the results.
"Our team is very excited, we were here (at the K- Club) just a few weeks ago so it feels like we are coming back to something familiar. There is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm."
As for Woosie he was able to take heart from some of his team's good performances in Madrid last week, particularly with Padraig Harrington back to form and Darren Clarke also making a successful return to competitive golf in Spain; his first appearance since the death of his wife, Heather, on August 13th.
"It was important for Darren to play well and also for me because I picked him," admitted Woosnam. "He did very well last week and he is up for it."
Meanwhile Tiger Woods, who unexpectedly lost to fellow American Shaun Micheel in the first round of the HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth last week, took the chance to watch Chelsea play Liverpool at Stamford Bridge yesterday, while his team mate and world number two Jim Furyk was already in Ireland and practising on the course.
At 4pm today Woosnam and Lehman will hold another joint press conference at the K Club and will be immediately followed by a questions and answers session with three European team members - Darren Clarke, Robert Karlsson and Jose Maria Olazabal.
The planning which has gone into this, the biggest Ryder Cup yet, is nothing if not meticulous. After both teams arrive at their quarters in the plush K Club hotel later today, the practice proper gets underway tomorrow. Throughout there will be an opportunity to question some of the main protagonists as they are drip fed to the assembled media through the week.
Woosie will kick-off tomorrow's interview schedule at noon and will be followed at 1.30pm by the American quartet of Chris DiMarco, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank. At 2.30pm Lehman will offer some of his thoughts before Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood gather on stage for their turn in front of the microphone. At 4pm Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie and Henrik Stenson will conclude the press briefings.
Aside from more interviews on Wednesday the day will get under way with team photos at 8am. Phil Mickelson (1.30pm) and Padraig Harrington (3pm) will be among those available for interview on Wednesday. On Thursday, world number one Woods will play a leading role when he leads three American rookies in JJ Henry, Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson to the stage. At 2pm later that day, both captains will hand in their morning pairings for the start of the Ryder Cup proper on Friday morning.
Given it's such a regimented schedule for players and captains it's little wonder they find time to practice. However, official practice is three days from tomorrow until the eve of the tournament on Thursday. Lehman's team will simply be familiarising themselves with the Palmer Course after their two-day reconnaissance mission to Ireland a couple of weeks ago. As for the Europeans, most already know the course well having competed here in the European Open in recent years.
The weather has been appalling at times today and if the downpours persist they will test the greenstaff to the very limit. On a more positive note, the weather is due to improve over the weekend. For players and spectators alike lets hope that's an accurate forecast.
