Sport is awash with pressure moments, each with their own unique idiosyncrasies that pave the path to greatness.

A penalty in a World Cup shootout, a field goal in the dying moments of an NFL game, a championship point at a tennis Grand Slam, the first ball of an Ashes series – to name a few.

You’d expect golf’s equivalent to be the walk down the fairway, to the 18th green, for a putt to win a major, but in reality, it’s something much more ordinary.

Golfers hit thousands – if not millions – of tee shots over their careers, yet time and again, one stands apart: the first at a Ryder Cup. This singular moment has exacted such a mental and physical toll that even the game’s most composed and accomplished players have been beset with anxiety.

Not even career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy, who goes in search of his fifth Ryder Cup victory on what will be his eighth consecutive appearance for Team Europe, was immune.

“I have never felt as nervous over a golf shot as that first tee shot in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor,” said McIlroy, reflecting on his debut in 2010.

In his four appearances as a player, Team Europe captain Luke Donald became all too familiar with the humbling effects of that first tee shot at a Ryder Cup.

“I really remember everyone talking up the first tee shot and how nerve-wracking it is, but to be honest, walking to the tee I felt pretty normal and confident,” he explains.

“As soon as they mentioned my name, my knees and my legs started to go to jelly. I was thinking, firstly, ‘let’s just try to get the ball on the tee.’

“The shot was just awful – probably 40 yards right. It wasn’t a good feeling, to be honest, but we were off and running, and the nerves kind of went away.”

Darren Clarke fared no better with his nerves on the first tee at Valderrama in 1997. “I was nervous, to say the very least: the hands, the legs, the knees were all going – all the stuff you’d expect to be still was moving pretty fast.

“I teed it up lower than usual and just tried to make contact with the thing. I hit driver – something you wouldn’t usually dream of doing off the first tee at Valderrama – and I hit it pretty well, just pulled it a little bit. It’s a very nervy occasion.”

With accounts like these, it’s hard not to think of Eminem’s 13-times platinum track Lose Yourself.

Donald’s and Clarke’s palms were sweaty, their knees weak, arms heavy. And in the case of Barry Lane, ahead of his 1993 appearance for Team Europe, there was vomit – whether it was on his sweater is irrelevant – and words refused to come out when he opened his mouth.

“I was physically ill on the walk down from the putting green to the first tee,” he recalls. “When we got there, I actually couldn’t speak.”

Lane would go on to lose all three of his matches at The Belfry, as Team USA secured what remains their last victory on European soil. Tellingly, Lane’s first Ryder Cup appearance would also be his last.

Perhaps this – what it takes to earn the right to represent Europe or the USA in the first place – is where the root cause of this crippling first-tee pressure lies.

You’d think the magnitude of the four majors would help players prepare for the rigours of Ryder Cup golf. They do, on many levels. But with huge fields and ample chances to qualify, they cannot come close to replicating the scarcity of opportunity.

Ryder Cup selection is anything but a formality. For 12 players, it is the culmination of two years on tour. It is a measure of consistency – a once-in-a-career opportunity that may never come again if a performance arc is even the slightest bit mistimed.

Tom Lehman, captain of Team USA in 2006, featured in three Ryder Cups as a player and likened not only the first tee shot but every single Ryder Cup game to playing in the final grouping in the final round of a major.

“I was way more nervous on the opening day of the Ryder Cup than the first round of any major,” said the 1996 Open winner. “Every Ryder Cup match is like being in the last group on Sunday in a major.”

A Ryder Cup is an occasion like no other – golf with the dials turned all the way up. Expectation and anticipation combine in a climax around the first tee box that produces an atmosphere golf only sees every other year.

The first-tee memories remain seared into the mind of Edoardo Molinari – one of Donald’s vice-captains in 2025 – 15 years on from helping Team Europe to victory at Celtic Manor as a player.

“We thought nobody would be on the tee. It was around an hour before the first tee time and there were 5,000 people sitting there, singing!” he said. “It is still a very vivid memory of how different the week was compared to other weeks.”

If the partisan European crowd Molinari described was something to behold, the reception awaiting Donald, his players, and his staff at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black could well surpass anything seen before.

The ability to maintain composure in a hostile, heated environment will be crucial in determining whether Europe defends or relinquishes its crown. It’s a task easier said than done, but not unattainable – especially if you tap into primal competitiveness.

“In the end, the bottom line is, it’s just us 12 against those 12 over there,” said Team USA’s 2008 winning captain Paul Azinger. “And you should look at the guy you’re playing and say to yourself on that first tee, ‘I just don’t want him to celebrate at my expense.'”

The stage is set. Bethpage Black awaits. Who will triumph, and at whose cost – the hosts or the holders?

When is the Ryder Cup live on Sky Sports?

There will be extended live coverage from every day of Ryder Cup week, where Team Europe look to regain the trophy with a historic away win in the United States.

Round-the-clock coverage of the opening day’s play will begin with live build-up from 9am on Friday September 26, ahead of full coverage from midday and the opening tee shot at 12.10pm. Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.