Tom Watson summed it up perfectly.

"Here we go again," sighed the American Ryder Cup captain as he sat down with his European counterpart Paul McGinley for yet another round of probings that have made the Nixon interviews resemble a quick blether over a swift pint at last orders.

They've been interrogated on a train, they've had a Q&A in Perth concert hall and they've been put before the inquisitors in the ballroom of the Gleneagles Hotel as part of the Year to Go festivities over the past couple of days. By the end of another relentless afternoon of chatter, they were both croaking like chain-smoking frogs. At this frenzied rate, they'll have to conduct media requests in mime by the time the Ryder Cup starts in 12 months' time

These two fine gentlemen are always worth listening to, of course. Ian Poulter might just be pricking up his ears today too. He may have assumed the role of Europe's Ryder Cup talisman with his heroics last year but McGinley has made it clear that past glories are no guarantee of a future presence.

The Englishman single-handedly galvanised Europe's ailing cup conquest during the Saturday afternoon fourballs last September and memorably birdied his final five holes during a fist-pumping, adrenaline charged finale as he and Rory McIlroy beat Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson by one hole.

It marked a turning of the tide that would become a singles tsunami as Europe conjured the Miracle of Medinah.

The hangover from that epic triumph has lingered a little too long for Poulter. Apart from a charging share of third in the Open at Muirfield this summer, he has struggled to replicate the intensity of performance this season that seems to flow from his every pore in the Ryder Cup arena.

McGinley is well aware of Poulter's abundant qualities. His Medinah majesty will go down in cup folklore and the Irishman at the helm for the 2014 match in Perthshire wants his on-course leader to write a few more heroic chapters.

"Ian Poulter is a special guy and what he did last year, it really was one of the most incredible achievements I have seen on a golf course," admitted McGinley.

"That was monumental and there is no doubt he personally pulled the team into a position where they were just within touching distance. Then when he got into the locker room he said, 'For the first time all week we have a pulse'. That was so poignant and right as we were on life support before that.

"Everyone has got this impression of Ian being a William Wallace, walking around the team room and banging on the heart, shouting and roaring. I can assure you, behind the scenes he is a very polished, observant member of the team. He doesn't make the rip-roaring speeches but you know looking around the team, you can tell the players who are up for it as well as those who are suffering and nervous.

"I am not saying anybody is in the team. I am talking in the past and I am talking about what he has achieved until now. I can assure you that if Ian Poulter has a very poor year next year he is not going to be in the team.

"But the chances of Ian Poulter having a very poor year are slim and I am hoping that doesn't happen. I would love to have him in the team but he has to earn his stripes. We are talking about in the past and he has to do it again. He has to prove to me he is on his game and mentally and physically ready."

McGinley continues to liken the 2014 contest to a heavyweight boxing clash of the titans. "When it starts we will go into each other's corner and then fight like hell," he said.

The big hitters don't come more powerful than Tiger Woods. His individual triumphs, the 14 major wins and the bountiful PGA Tour victories, have not been mirrored in the team arena however. Only once in seven Ryder Cup appearances has Woods been on a winning side. Many believe that Woods is simply not a team player and that the US squad in general still struggles to emulate the European camaraderie.

Watson, though, is adamant that the world No.1 is the man that will be the US marshall and lead an increasingly tight collective force.

"In talking to Davis Love III [about last year's Ryder Cup] he was very much a leader and he became very much part of the team that year," said the five-time Open champion. "We need him to be a leader, there's no question about that. I did ask that pertinent question to Davis Love, how they were in a team situation, how did they act, what were they like. He said they were as knitted a group as possible and Tiger was a leader. I don't care who you are, if you don't look up to Tiger Woods, what he's accomplished in his career, then you don't know what you're talking about.

"When I played on the team, I stood on the tee several times and I head the words 'Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus'. That was a great moment when you thought 'God, I've got Jack Nicklaus on my team'. That's what it should be like to have Tiger on the team."

Asked to elaborate on the reasons why Woods has been viewed as the leader at Medinah, Watson added: "That's private." The Tiger's concession of a generous putt to Francesco Molinari in the last singles match left the tie all-square and ensured Europe won the Ryder Cup outright, 14½-13½, when the outcome could have been a 14-14 draw. Would a leader have done that?

"Personally I probably wouldn't have done that, I'm trying to win my match," said Watson. "But then you look at what Jack [Nicklaus] did with Tony Jacklin [in the 1969 Ryder Cup which was tied]. He gave him the putt and said "I know you wouldn't have missed it, but I wasn't going to let you have the opportunity". Tiger did the same sort of thing, I think."

And on that note, it was time for the talking to stop for now.

There will be plenty more words spoken in the coming months, though.