Who said there is nothing worth watching on the telly?

For Paul McGinley, the highlights of last weekend's Ryder Cup provided the ultimate proof that Team Europe had, indeed, produced a fine team effort.

Consumed by the frenzy of the biennial bunfight during a hectic few days at Gleneagles, McGinley barely had time to draw breath let alone slump himself in front of the box and paw wearily at the remote control.

It was only upon his return to the family home on Monday that the reality of what he had helped to create and nurture became apparent in all its tight-knit, triumphant glory. Forget bake offs, dance offs and sing offs. It was flashing glimpses of the tee-offs and everything else that followed that got McGinley tuned in.

"I hadn't watched the TV all week," said the 47-year-old Dubliner ahead of his return to competitive duty in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. "I hadn't watched any of the highlights at night during the week but my son, Killian, said to me 'the golf is on, how the Ryder Cup was won'. So I went in and sat with him for half an hour and straight away I got that sense of bonding.

"I looked at the pictures and I could see the body language of the players with each other. I could see the way they were hanging out and how they were communicating with each other. I could see the caddie involvement, the vice captains being part of it and the crowd interaction. All of those things, I had not seen during the week because I was so stuck in management mode and that half hour of watching the highlights was probably the most emotional I'd been during all of it.

"The emotions were very, very strong. It was confirmation of so many things that I wanted. And it was summed up there in half an hour of highlights. As a team, we nailed it."

The celebrations that followed - yes, those ones featuring half-naked men in mini-kilts and wigs - provided further proof to McGinley that this European union is as strong as, well, the stomachs of those who witnessed half-naked men in mini-kilts and wigs.

"You could see they were so comfortable in each other's company and that photo, of Stevie [Gallacher] and Rory in his kilt, summarised that element of enjoyment and bonding, something I wanted to create between players that will last forever," added McGinley. "Stevie and Rory live different lives. Rory is in a stratosphere that nobody is close to. Stevie is the local boy who had an incredible year to get to the Ryder Cup. And there he was with this superstar and the two of them were so comfortable.

"I would love to think that Rory and Stevie would still talk about that years down the line. I sent Stevie a text and told him that. The photograph will live forever."

While McGinley eases himself back into tournament golf at this celebration of links golf, the reigning Dunhill Links champion, David Howell, was trying to ease the pain of a neck problem as he battled to be fit for the first round.

Forget the aches and pains brought on by the twisting, turning, coiling and birling of the golf swing. It would appear a week in the television studio is far more crippling. "I did the commentary at the Ryder Cup last week, didn't hit a ball for eight days and came into this week feeling dreadful," winced Howell.

"The body is a strange thing. Sometimes it goes into spasm and eases off overnight. This came on overnight. I'm pretty cheesed off."