The War on the Shore, the Battle of Brookline?

The Ryder Cup in the modern era is a manic, military- style operation and Stephen Gallacher will be the raw recruit thrust towards the front line when the opening salvos are launched at Gleneagles in three weeks' time.

The Scot has plenty of wily old veterans to call on for advice, of course. He even has a double agent in his midst. The irony is that it is his American putting coach, Dave Stockton. When Gallacher's uncle Bernard skippered Europe in the infamous, ill-tempered 1991 contest at Kiawah Island, his first of three stints at the helm, his opposite number in the American camp was Stockton. It would be fair to say the pair did not see eye to eye...and still don't.

"Well, first of all, most of the controversies were in Bernard Gallacher's mind, OK," recalled Stockton a couple of years ago of a relationship that clearly remains as frosty as an Eskimo's scullery. "He saw suspicious happenings around every single frigging corner."

The Kiawah Island clash, which became known as that aforementioned shoreline stooshie, was characterised by furious competition, gamesmanship, finger wagging, over exuberance and mind-mangling antics.

"The local radio station got hold of some of our phone numbers," the elder Gallacher said. "The disc jockey seemed to think it was funny to call our players in the middle of the night. It was called Wake the Enemy. And that went on all week, even during the tournament."

The matches were played just a few months after the Gulf War had ended. Patriotism was running rampant in the American side and the fact that members of the USA battalion wore camouflage hats only fuelled the flag-waving fervour.

At least there is one Gallacher Stockton gets on with. Since seeking the advice of the American putting guru last year, Stephen has been galvanised on the greens and his wild-card call up to Team Europe was greeted with glee on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Dave was one of the first to text me and he said he was just over the moon; he was delighted for me," said Gallacher, who adopted a more diplomatic approach to the war of words that has lingered from '91.

"My Uncle Bernard wrote a book about Kiawah Island and they maybe didn't see eye-to-eye, but Dave has spoken to me about those camouflaged hats. He explained the only reason he got that was because he goes hunting all the time and wanted to be able to wear his Ryder Cup hat when he went shooting and fishing. That was all it was to him. It was nothing to do with the Gulf War. It just shows you what can get kicked up in a storm.

"He is a nice man and to have a former American captain help you get on the team is a bit of an anomaly I suppose. I'm not the only European player Stockton has helped though. I know Rory McIlroy works with him a bit. On the whole, it's not bad getting help from two Ryder Cup captains."

It will be Uncle Bernard whom Gallacher will be drawing on most as he seeks to wring out every drop of information and experience in the build up to his Ryder Cup debut.

"I'll be speaking to him quite a lot over the next three weeks so that I know what to expect," added the 39-year-old. "He's been in Paul McGinley's shoes so I'll be leaning on him. Bernard has already said to me that getting in the team has been the easy bit. I said, 'what?' But I know exactly what he means as it's a pressure-cooker week. From Monday morning to the next Monday morning you are never off the stoat."

Gallacher is getting into combat mode. Tranquil Gleneagles, meanwhile, is bracing itself for the Ryder Cup battle.