Captains call for sportsmanship by all

Captains Bernhard Langer and Hal Sutton made impassioned pleas for sportsmanship on Thursday, transforming golf's greatest grudge match into a Ryder Cup love-in during a rollicking opening ceremony.

Putting aside the hostilities that had marred recent Ryder Cups, 24 golfers from the U.S. and Europe and over 40,000 spectators at the Oakland Hills Golf Club were on their best behaviour in the final build-up to start of play on Friday when their control and golf etiquette will again be put to the test.

Memories of the ugliness that stained past events were not far from the minds of Langer and Sutton, who asked spectators and their players to respect the game and each other during the three-day competition.

Sportsmanship was in short supply the last time the biennial event was staged in the United States in 1999 when competitors sniped at each other while spectators heckled and taunted golfers and their families.

"Hal, you and I have made it well known we have respect for the virtues of sportsmanship for which the Ryder Cup is known," said Langer, making his first appearance as European captain. "I invite every single fan to uphold the respect and integrity that makes golf such a special game."

Sutton said: "Rest assured these matches will be played with respect and integrity."

Produced by the same company behind the opening and closing ceremonies at the Athens Olympics, a two-hour extravaganza led by a host of celebrities including businessman Donald Trump, supermodel Kathy Ireland and Olympian Michael Phelps, attempted to invoke the sprit of golf while saluting the history and tradition of the Ryder Cup.

But the highlight of the event was the introduction of the two teams who marched onto the stage side-by-side, laughing and patting each other on the back as they slowly made their way through the crowd.

The wives and girlfriends of U.S. golfers, who in the past have been gleefully dubbed by the European media as the 'Stepford Wives' and 'Peroxide Army' again presented a united front as they joined their partners on stage wearing identical outfits of black trousers and matching red jackets and tops.

In contrast, the European women expressed their individual style, choosing their own outfits as they walked in alongside the waving Americans who included Tiger Woods's girlfriend, Swedish model Elin Nordegren.