MONDAY The power was out. An omen? Maybe, but for which team. This town built on basketball, bourbon and the only horse race about which America cares, the Kentucky Derby, had been swept by hurricane-force winds on Sunday past. The Ryder Cup teams and media arrived to hotels without electricity, streets without signals and a golf course, Valhalla, where trees and television towers had been blown down. Petrol stations, out of business the day previously because their pumps wouldn't work, had lines of cars with empty tanks and angry drivers. As opposed to the drivers who later in the week would be standing on the tees trying to keep the ball out of the trees. The two team captains, Nick Faldo of Europe and Paul Azinger from the United States, held news conferences telling us they're happy to be here. Surprise. On the television screen there are Nick and Paul doing a paid commercial. Hey, a man's got to live.

TUESDAY Valhalla was designed by a man named Jack Nicklaus who used to play rather successful golf, and financed by a man named Dwight Gahm (pronounced game), who used to build kitchen cabinets. Previously used for the 1996 and 2000 PGA Championships, it has been described by the professionals as everything from "goofy'' to "good". It is named for the great hall in Norse mythology where the souls of Vikings feasted with the gods. Sort of strong, wouldn't you say? It has a lot of doglegs, and there are high-tension lines crossing the course, which isn't very atheistic. But it has a decent legacy, since Tiger Woods beat Bob May in a playoff for that 2000 PGA. The local newspaper, the Courier-Journal, carried a story that online brokers had dropped their prices for tournament tickets from several hundred dollar to $25 (about £13). But it warns fans they will have to go through security check-points that include metal detectors. "I've learned one thing,'' said Dan Sidders, vice president of the Los Angeles firm handling security. "Here in Kentucky everybody carries a knife.''

WEDNESDAY There's more to the Ryder Cup than golf. Traditionally, a black tie gala is held two days before the matches. Always the players with their wives or significant others were announced and joined the well-heeled patrons for dinner and entertainment. If you recall in 1993, Tom Watson, then American captain, didn't want his team exchanging autographs with the Euros. This year there were no autographs. No wives, except in the Kentucky Center. And no soul. In what amounted to a walk through, the players and wives ate dinner at their respective hotels and were bussed to the auditorium. Then with the wives upstairs, the players were introduced, stood for about 10 seconds, walked off stage and joined their spouses to watch Carrie Underwood perform. "The players wanted some time to themselves,'' explained a PGA of America spokesman.

THURSDAY This is the hometown of Muhammad Ali. There's a Muhammad Ali museum downtown. The one-time boxing champ came to Valhalla where, sitting in golf buggy, he shook hands with players from both teams.

Nobody seemed prepared to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, other than the British press which had latched on to a photograph of a notepad in Faldo's hands. Visible were initials which any sane-thinking individual would interpret as Nick's potential pairings but what he called "a sandwich list''. Yo, Nick I'll have a Harrington on a bun. A media function featured liquor from various bourbon distilleries, food cooked in bourbon and some long-haired people performing what is called Kentucky bluegrass music (Note, the grass in Kentucky really is green; that bluegrass stuff is just a label).

FRIDAY The Ryder Cup is becoming more and more like the Super Bowl. A week of nonsensical talk ,or in this case four days of it, before play actually gets under way. As even someone in the PGA office emailed, "Hurray, the cup is here.'' The waiting seemed worthwhile for the American side, which for the first time in nine Ryder Cup matches, back to 1991, held the lead after the first day's morning play. That was an accomplishment. But not as important as restoring power. Finally, six days after the storm knocked down the lines, there were lights in homes and businesses in the region. It's tough to see in a dark room.