Ryder Cup 2004So, the sideshow is over; now, it's time for the serious business, where nobody can hide and when everyone will be required to reveal just what they're made of. Ever since the flight touched down on Monday evening, and Europe's team captain Bernhard Langer brought the Ryder Cup through Customs into the McNamara Terminal at Wayne County Airport in Detroit, a piece of precious metal the Americans badly want to reclaim, the preamble has been akin to psychological warfare. Now, it's the real thing.

Yesterday, in one fell swoop, the gloves were taken off. Somewhere, sometime Langer heard a rumour that maybe Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson would be paired together. Going with his hunch, Langer decided to put out Padraig Harrington, his top-ranked player in the world, with Colin Montgomerie, his most experienced warhorse, in the opening fourball. In so doing, the scene has been set for a highly-charged opener to the 35th Ryder Cup. In fact, it couldn't be better.

While Langer's meticulous use of practice rounds left many of his players aware of their likely partners - the only change, it seems, came from Paul McGinley's impressive form which enabled him to force a starting place in the fourballs at the expense of Paul Casey - the rather more laid-back approach of Hal Sutton left many in the dark. Yet, to his credit, he has been brave enough to forge a partnership of Woods and Mickelson that was too scary a proposition for the past three US captains.

It's a decision by which Sutton will have to sink or swim, but a captivating scenario nonetheless.

"We came here to win, and I don't know that we could pair two guys together that were more matched for one another than those two guys. So, you know, I'm either going to get criticised or praised over this. But my pairing is down, and I'm proud of it," said Sutton. "I can't imagine anything that would aggravate those two guys more than to get beaten. So, man, there would be some hell to pay if that happens."

He added: "You know, I wasn't really concerned if they were bosom buddies or anything. They know what their job is and they are going to go out there and they are going to get it done."

For a second straight day, Mickelson missed playing a practice round, but the mystery was solved last evening when Sutton revealed that he'd been practising on the North Course with some new golf balls, obviously in preparation for a possible foursomes line-up with Woods at some juncture.

How Mickelson got an inkling that he might be paired with Woods was this. Sutton called Mickelson over and gave him two sleeves of Tiger's ball and said, "You might ought to go out there and get ready to use this ball."

To which Mickelson responded, "Maybe on the North Course?"

And Sutton replied, "On the North Course. So don't let's talk about this."

If that all seems like fun and games in what is the most intense competition in the golfing world, it also provides an insight into Sutton's style of captaincy. He does it his own way.

For now, the emphasis is on the opening series of fourballs, where both teams will be seeking not to lose the initiative as much as seeking to gain it.

If the sight of Messrs Woods and Mickelson stepping out together onto the first tee is supposed to intimidate either Montgomerie or Harrington, then the effect was pretty much the opposite. As Sutton would more likely say, the pair were "licking their chops" in anticipation.

"It'll be interesting, but we can beat them," observed Montgomerie. "The only way we can beat them is by scoring lower than them, that's the way to win. We've got to do our own thing, we won't beat them by trying to do their game."

For Harrington, despite his protestations earlier in the week that he couldn't be viewed as a leader on the European team, this is further confirmation of his elevated status. "I don't know if we're the big guns going out against them, but hopefully we'll manage our games against them. Monty has the experience and I'm usually pretty determined. They are the big stars. We thought they would be together. Basically, we chose to go out in that match."

They've got their wish.

"A win would be fantastic, any win would be fantastic," said Langer, "if you make some points. Obviously, playing Tiger and Phil, it might be a little bit more if we can get a win out of that. It would really pump us up."

The reality, though, is that the opening fourballs have four points at stake. And, if Sutton was satisfied at the way his pairings fell vis a vis the partnerships produced by Langer, the simple fact is that this Ryder Cup has all the ingredients to go to the wire. And, for good measure, all three Irish players have been given key roles in the opening matches.

Darren Clarke will commence a new partnership with Miguel Angel Jimenez in the second match, where they will face Davis Love and Chad Campbell; McGinley has been paired with Luke Donald, facing US rookie Chris Riley and Stewart Cink; while Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood meet David Toms and Jim Furyk in the bottom match.

For Europe, the moment of truth has arrived. In past Ryder Cups they've been overwhelming underdogs. This time, they face into the contest as close to parity with their opponents as they have ever done, with all 12 ranked within the top-70 in the world. Destiny calls, but who answers will only be determined over the next three days. It promises to be fascinating.