If anything illustrated the piranha-like feeding frenzy that the Ryder Cup has become in the modern era, then it was the appearance of Tom Watson and Paul McGinley for their joint blether at Gleneagles yesterday.

Beaming from ear to ear, with the kind of gleaming grins that looked like they'd just been awarded shares in the toothpaste industry, the respective skippers of America and Europe stuck their hands on the Ryder Cup that sat in front of them and were immediately met by a snapping, flashing mob of clambering photographers. The unseemly rammy looked more like a scene from the exit of a glitzy nightclub as a tottering celebrity stumbled out on to the streets.

Amid this initial bun-fight - the first of many, no doubt - McGinley's cast of celebrity golfers were making their own way to the plush Perthshire resort. They were coming from a' the airts. "We are arriving, but not as collectively as the Americans did," said McGinley. "We are arriving at different stages and people are coming from all over the world." Their deadline to make it to Gleneagles was 6pm last night and, by all accounts, everybody was checked in. Rory McIlroy, who famously pitched up just 11 minutes before his singles tee-time after some confusion at Medinah two years ago, made sure he was on time by dropping in on Sunday.

"The good thing this week is if somebody is late, they can roll out of bed to the first tee within five minutes," said McGinley with a smile. That weekend in Chicago two years ago, a tumultuous contest that stirred the senses and left the nerves shredded, continues to loom large. McGinley, who was part of the back-room team then and has never been on a losing Ryder Cup side since his debut in 2002, is drawing on the experience. "As a team, collectively, we learned a lot," he said. "I've been very privileged and lucky to have been involved with teams that have been very successful. But at Medinah, we were getting a real walloping for the first two days and that was the first time I had been in that situation. I learned a lot from Jose Maria [Olazabal, the European captain], the decisions he made and the structures he put in place to give us the best chance of getting out of the hole we were in."

Europe go into this 40th staging of the Ryder Cup as favourites. Having won seven of the last nine contests, and with three of this year's major winners in their midst, it's hardly surprising. "I think our players have earned that," added McGinley. "But I don't think we are overwhelming favourites, we are slight favourites.

"The guys have worked very hard to be in the position they are. Having said that, I did a bit of calculating myself when the two teams were formulated and Tom's team's average world ranking position was 16 and ours was 18. So this is not a weak American team."

Two years ago, Bubba Watson upped the ante in terms of spectator involvement by urging the fans to hoot and holler through his back swing in an event that has a history of boisterous behaviour. Rickie Fowler, meanwhile, touched down on Scottish soil sporting a new haircut in which the letters USA have been shaved into his scalp. You half-expected McGinley and Watson to roll up their sleeves and reveal love/hate tattoos. The Ryder Cup may whip up this patriotic fervour but both captains are steeped in the game's good, honest traditions.

"We are both great traditionalists," said McGinley. "And we'll be leading our teams with a great understanding and reverence towards the rules and traditions. The haircut of Rickie? That's great. That a guy is so passionate that he will go and do that for the Ryder Cup is brilliant. What Bubba did the last time was a spontaneous one-off.

"I wouldn't want it every round but those are the things that make the Ryder Cup special. Having said that, we all know, like the crowd behaviour, that there is a line . . . and we all want to stay on the right side of that line."

The golfing battle lines, meanwhile, continue to be drawn.