Kildare diary

Rob Hodgetts, writing in the BBC’s Ryder Cup Blog

K CLUB – Absorbing, illuminating, tense, amusing. And a massive privilege. Not many Saturday mornings come close to leaning against a tree just yards from the action as four Ryder Cup matches unfold in front of you.

The tree in question, an oak, stands behind the par-three 8th hole in one of the most picturesque corners of the K Cub beside the River Liffey.

It’s 0930, the grandstand is full and an expectant crowd stands patiently in broken sunshine waiting for the fourballs.

Cheers and groans ring out from somewhere on the course, getting louder as the first group edges nearer.

Photographers prowl, snapping the masses, and a tournament official practises his golf swing with an umbrella. The crowd lets out a huge cheer, and he gives them a proud fist-pump.

But they are responding to the scoreboard, which has changed to show Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood going 1 up back at the 4th. And the official sheepishly tries to disguise his gesture as a scratch of the head.

A couple of fish leap in the river. Someone in the crowd collapses, prompting a call for medics. “He must be American and just saw the score,” says an NBC cameraman…