The opening skirmishes in the Ryder Cup are always tense affairs, so it is questionable why any captain should feel the need to whip the crowds into a frenzy. That, however, is what Paul Azinger, leading the United States, is determined to do here.

With previous bad blood at the biennial competition, it has been refreshing to witness the way that the teams, captains and galleries have behaved at the past two Ryder Cups, in Detroit and Dublin. Good sportsmanship has been a priority and ugliness has been in short supply.

At a rally in the centre of Louisville on the eve of the match, however, Azinger specifically called on local support to make things awkward for the Europe team, to celebrate their misfortunes.

“You can cheer when they miss. You - can – cheer – when – they – miss!” he bellowed. When you consider that in the spectator guide such behaviour is specifically discouraged by the captains, that does not sit well with the ethos of the game or the competition. “The prospective misfortunes of an opposing player should never be celebrated,” it states.

Brushing off any criticism yesterday, Azinger disingenuously claimed that he was simply educating the crowds. But his explanation implied that it was more tit-for-tat for what he used to experience when he was a player than for what has recently been the case.

“When we go over there [to Europe], they cheer when we miss,” Azinger said yesterday. “I don’t think the American fans are really into what the Ryder Cup is all about in the fact that there is the other element.

“It wasn’t malicious, it was kind of an education almost. I was just making sure they understood that if we win a hole, they can cheer – even if somebody misses a putt for us to win a hole.”

In the morning foursomes yesterday, the galleries were supportive but well-behaved. If things kick off over the weekend, however, whose fault will it be? The US captain would be a good place to begin any investigation.

On a happier note, Lee Westwood and Sergio GarcÍa were delighted with their half-point in the foursomes match against Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry. Two down with two to play, the Europeans won the last two holes to boost flagging morale with their team trailing 2½-½.

“A half-point like that is actually a point, because they lose one and we win one,” Westwood said. “Any time you can get out of jail like that makes a massive difference and can be a momentum shift for the rest of the team.”

It also meant that Westwood went into the afternoon four-balls with an impressive record within his sights. The Englishman needed to avoid defeat to equal Arnold Palmer’s record of not being beaten in 12 successive matches in the competition.