If you arrived late for Paul McGinley's press conference ahead of the Wales Open here at Celtic Manor, you would have certainly been left intrigued by the topic of conversation as you sneaked in at the back.

"Anything in particular that will get the juices flowing?" asked one reporter. "I think the photographs which were taken two days ago," replied McGinley. It was an exchange that would've conjured up some deliciously scandalous imagery in mischievous minds. The said pictures are all above board, of course.

"I'm giving the players a little folder, with photographs of what it looks like at Gleneagles at the moment," explained European captain McGinley of this brochure of Ryder Cup-related odds and sods. "It's got shots of various places, like the first tee, the walk to the first tee and maps of the course. There are aerial photos so they can see the whole site and where everything is.

"There are shots of the section of the hotel we are staying in and exactly where it is. And it shows the media centre so they don't get lost on their way to it."

Some of the golf writers might need a copy of that page. Stephen Gallacher, Jamie Donaldson, Lee Westwood and Thomas Bjorn, the Ryder Cup quartet who are all competing in Wales this week, were among the first to receive this handy guide during an informal dinner with their skipper last night. It is all part of McGinley's meticulous Ryder Cup preparations and the build-up seems to be going smoothly.

Some players are fine tuning their games here at Celtic Manor, the host venue the last time the Ryder Cup was staged in Europe four years ago.

Others, like Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Victor Dubuisson are either resting or doing their own thing. McGinley is happy to leave them to their own devices. When the first ball of the 40th Ryder Cup gets clattered away next Friday morning, McGinley will know he has done everything in his power to ensure Team Europe will be as prepared as they can be for the bear pit of this biennial battle.

Sport being sport, though, the best laid schemes can go as awry as a shanked tee-shot. The hosts, winners of seven of the last nine Ryder Cups, are being heavily tipped to extend that profitable run of success against an American side that have endured a fairly turbulent build up.

No Tiger, no Dustin Johnson and no Billy Horschel or Chris Kirk, the duo who were overlooked for a wild card and are now two of the hottest players in the US on current form.

"My big worry, my one worry is that this is top level sport and anything can happen," McGinley said. "I know a lot of you don't follow Gaelic football but there was big match last week when Dublin played Donegal. Dublin were 1/10 playing at home; a great team, a brilliant manager, incredibly well prepared with a great run of form playing against a Donegal team that had a bad year and had gone down and were heavily the underdogs.

"But Dublin went out and were beaten and beaten comfortably. My job as captain is to minimise the chances of that happening next week ... but in sport it can happen."

In the grand picture, it is just a game and home hopeful Gallacher has perspective in his bag as the build-up reaches "manic" levels. Just a few days after being unveiled as a captain's pick, his gran, Millie, passed away. "I went from the highest of the highs to the lowest of the lows in a day," he said. "Bernard [his uncle] was up and the family were all at her bedside. It was a tough time, no doubt, but that's life.

"Family is more important than anything and things like that happening keep you grounded. She knew I was in the team and was proud of me. Now I'll do her proud."