Everyone said that in Ryder Cup week there is no time for yourself and already I have found that to be true after the first day.

Last night was quiet. We ate in the team room of our hotel, a rather old hotel with small rooms in the centre of Louisville. It has lots of character. Poults, Sergio, Lee took the lead in talking about things over dinner and Nick gave us some thoughts for the week. It was a nice relaxed hour or so of everyone's time. The mood was very good. There was a lot of banter going on, a lot of humour.

Flight up from Orlando that afternoon had been perfect. Travelled in style. Ten of us came up on a nice G4, which was a treat, a way I am not accustomed to. Poults, Henrik and me, our wives and his wife's family. Checked in at the team hotel and then went back out to meet the Virgin plane that landed. That was good fun and then we got back to our room and discovered all the stuff that was waiting for us.

There were the outfits we have to wear. They are quite young and trendy. The shirts all have the Europe crest on them. The moment you put on your national jersey it is a proud moment. No matter what the clothes look and feel like if they have that logo on they are special. Rolex gave us a presentation last night of a watch with Europe team Ryder Cup 2008 and the team logo on the back. That is a lovely keepsake. Other little things in the room included a blanket and a pillow that said Ryder Cup on them. Those are things you can throw in the spare bedroom, a lovely memento.

I set the alarm for 6.10 this morning, squeezed another ten minutes in bed. Didn't sleep fantastically well last night. It was the first night I guess. Got to bed quite late so I am looking forward to a good rest tonight. We are due to go to the Muhammad Ali Centre here in Louisville for dinner. That will be cool. Don't know whether we will be seeing him. I hear he is in a bad way.

What a great athlete he was, more than a sportsman, a spokesman on a lot of levels. I love the way he used to predict the score and what round he would win and so on. I heard a great story that towards the end of his career once he had stopped predicting some guy said to him "can I have your gloves from your last fight please for charity auction" and when he got them, after Ali had knocked his opponent out in five rounds, he found a bit of paper inside the gloves and on it were the words "I will knock him down in five."

I have just spent nearly seven hours on the golf course with a break of 15 minutes for lunch. I am looking for a car now to take me back to the hotel. At the moment we just walk out of the hotel and there are cars waiting to take us the 30 minutes to and from the course. I hear we may be travelling in a coach when the competition starts.

It has been a long day as we worked out how to play the course, how play certain shots and certain holes. But it had to be done. We have broken the back of the preparation now. Nick didn't say anything specific about engaging with the locals but some of players who were on the '04 side have - Poults and Sergio mentioned it for example. We were given Sharpies (felt tip pens) on the 1st tee to sign autographs. Could be a few potential hecklers out there and if you engage with them today they might just bite their tongue at the week-end.

I have media to do between 8.30 and 9.30 tomorrow. Then it will be a quick warm up and out on the course. Tomorrow is the gala dinner. I am looking forward to that. Don't know what time we have to leave the course for that but it won't be as long a day as today was.