The silence of the lambs becalmed large swathes of rural Perthshire yesterday morning as two dangerous young Americans set out with murderous intent at Gleneagles.

And Jordan Speith and Patrick Reed did exactly what they set out to do in killing the atmosphere Paul McGinley, Europe's captain, had sought to generate when sending one of his own rookies, Stephen Gallacher, out with Ian Poulter, his team's talisman, whom the Americans had said they were targeting.

"I think not only did we beat Ian but we beat Stephen, a local favourite here," 21-year-old Speith said afterwards.

"They [the galleries] were very much behind both of them, but it was very quiet for our group. I think that's definitely a psychological blow. I mean, it was very quiet out there compared to what I think Patrick and I expected in the first round of a Ryder Cup over here."

It certainly was - exactly in line with the tale Tom Watson told when he chose to pair the youngsters, recounting the Ryder Cup debut of his mentor Byron Nelson.

That had been in 1937, when the then 25-year-old Nelson had found himself paired for the opening fourballs with 24-year-old Ed Dudley and matched up against Englishmen Henry Cotton and Alf Padgham, who had won three of the previous four Open Championships.

"The morning papers said, 'The lambs are thrown to the wolves'," Watson explained. "Of course, Byron beat the stars and the headline the next day was 'The lambs eat the wolves'."

It had looked a massive gamble when Watson opted to throw all three of his rookies into the fray immediately, but how he was rewarded for the faith he showed in them, with Speith the steadiest performer in his match early on before Reed started rattling in putts.

Meanwhile, up ahead, Jimmy Walker holed bunker shots and chips to help Rickie Fowler recover from three down after four holes, before sealing the comeback for a halved match with Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer by birdieing the 18th, and Speith said the oldest of America's newboys had been inspirational.

"I think Jimmy may have been the most excited to get this Ryder Cup started, and that's saying a lot," he said of the 35-year-old. "To see him go out there and have two chip-ins and the clutch birdie on the last is no surprise, but is so awesome knowing how important it is for us rookies to see the ball go in the hole early and to get a point or half a point."