Tribalism and Trump: Europe face another hostile environment

President's visit tomorrow will test security to the limit, but the US captain is thrilled he will be there

- Andy Bull

AAAH-BA-BAAH! It had just gone nine in the morning when the speakers started blasting out Village People's YMCA.

Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1, had arrived on the putting green and everyone was whooping and hollering at him. Scheffler bumped fists with one of his coaches, wrapped another up in a hug and, BAH-BA-BADA-BADA-BAH!, walked on up and across the bridge to the practice ground where there was a crowd of 500 or so waiting.

They started chanting. "YEW-ESS-AY! YEW-ESS-AY!" Scheffler's a big man. By the time he made it on to the range he seemed to have swelled twice the size.

There are a few hundred thousand reasons why the home team wins two out of three editions of the Ryder Cup. One of them is the nature of the courses, which, like the English language, are the same, but different either side of the Atlantic. The second is that the captains are allowed to tweak the widths of the fairways, the height of the rough and the speed of the greens to suit their own team.

The rest are all paying upwards of $750 to attend. The Ryder Cup always draws the rowdiest crowds in the game. The tribalism, says the US's Patrick Cantlay, "has become such an integral part of this event, it's just to be expected".

But this year, no one is sure what is coming. Donald Trump is due tomorrow afternoon and his visit is looming over the tournament like a balloon at the Thanksgiving parade.