THE FIRST day of Ryder Cup week can normally be described as the calm before the storm - the day when the final touches are made to months of preparation.
At Valhalla, however, it was the storm before the calm.
Hurricane Ike had left a trail of destruction in the southern states of Texas and Louisiana, but although it has since been downgraded to a tropical depression, winds gusting to 60mph were hitting the Louisville area yesterday.
Thunderstorms were predicted too as the remnants of Ike passed through and - for safety reasons as much as anything else - Cup organisers could be grateful they had not scheduled the match a week earlier.
The National Weather Service in Louisville issued a warning to say property damage, falling trees and broken power lines were a possibility during the day.
The tented village and spectator stands at Valhalla were being given a rigorous examination, but the good news for the thousands of spectators heading to the match - and for the players, of course - was that from the start of official practice tomorrow temperatures are expected to return to around 25 degrees Centigrade, with winds only 5-10mph and little if any rain forecast.
