BY all accounts, early man spent most of his time roaming around in primitive clothing, grunting incoherently and violently swinging clubs.

You can still see evidence of this primeval behaviour at the Saturday medal.

In this human evolution, we can only wonder when the fist pump first came on the scene. It was probably at the moment homo erectus triumphantly proved his fellow troglodytes wrong by managing to light a clump of dry moss with a spark from a bit of flint.

The history of histrionics had been changed forever. "Everybody's got their own DNA and everybody fist pumps in their own way," suggested Ian Poulter during a rather odd exchange about boisterous golfing celebrations.

"In the time I've watched Ryder Cups, I've seen everybody first pump. Everybody fist pumps differently and I don't think my fist pump was any different in 2004 to what it was in 2012. I've seen the highlights and they are exactly the same."

Given the overwhelming commercialism of this clash of the transatlantic titans these days, you can probably buy that DVD right now; 'The Ryder Cup's Greatest Fist Pumps - in HD'. Flippancy aside, Poulter was responding to a question about the over-exuberance of joyous outbursts during golf's greatest team contest. It has a history of rampant exultation, of course, but Poulter is not going to keep it all in. He'd probably burst at the seams if he tried.

"It's not disrespectful in any way, shape or form," he added. "I'm showing my emotions, like Seve, Ollie, Monty, Woosie, Torrance, like all the guys through the years that have played in the Ryder Cup. I show the emotions because it means so much. It just comes out naturally and that's what you see."

Poulter's passion in this arena scaled new heights two years ago when he reached a level of sporting engagement that bordered on the hysterical. With Europe 10-4 down at one stage of a sombre Saturday, a near psychotic Poulter, his face contorted with adrenaline, single-handedly injected the team with renewed vigour as he launched a late birdie blitz in the fourballs during a victory that would help inspire that Miracle of Medinah.

Poulter is a man possessed in the Ryder Cup tumult and his competitive fires rage as if they have just been doused in petrol.

Can this enthralling environment ignite him again? Team Europe will certainly be hoping so. Far from roaring away, the flames have been quietly flickering in 2014 and from 19 worldwide starts, he has had just two top-10s and none since June. Poulter has finished outside the top 50 in five of his last six tournaments but the Ryder Cup whips him up like no other event and that was the reasoning for handing him a wild card.

His record of 12 wins from 15 matches stands up among the best. He has won seven consecutive matches in the biennial battle and has been Europe's leading points scorer in the last three cup campaigns.

"My record in the Ryder Cup is exceptional and my strokeplay record isn't," said the 38-year-old, who still has an impressive strokeplay cv with multiple wins around the globe during a profitable career. "Quite clearly, I've struggled to take what I have in a Ryder Cup and put that out for the 103 other weeks in between them. Every putt in the Ryder Cup is the equivalent of winning a tournament.

"Potentially, you're holing lots of tournament-winning putts throughout a three-day spell and sometimes that adds up to more wins than you would ever win in your professional lifetime. You go through that emotion so often and you just don't get that week-in, week-out. I'm still trying to internally psyche myself up the way I do in the Ryder Cup"

With his formidable record, Poulter is the nemesis of the USA. A picture of his face has probably been stuck on the wall of the team room for the Americans to fling darts at. The other day, Matt Kuchar, echoing the sentiments of his US colleagues, confirmed that Poulter is the man everybody wants to play. "But the flipside of that is that you hate to get beaten by him," suggested Kuchar.

"I take pride in that," responded Poulter. "I have inflicted a lot of punishment by winning 12 out of 15 points and putting a lot of blue on the board. I've been able to go out there and deliver. I'm very visible when I deliver a point and I'm sure that's hard to take. I think the intimidation factor comes from delivering, from holing putts. I'm one of those players who stands tall.

"I put more pressure on myself than the millions or billions or however many people are out there wanting me to hole putts. I'm very demanding of what it is I have to go out there and deliver upon, and I feel that I can manage that level within myself as that's what I expect to do."

When one of those key putts trundles in, Poulter's eyes bulge and his veins throb. Throw in the fist-pumping and the fury and it can be an intimidating sight, not just for his opponents but for his children too. "I think they're scared," he said with a smile when asked what his kids think of their demonstrative dad.

It could be the Americans who are running scared this weekend.