[paintmered]

Highlights from today:

* 10 minutes after I got to the course this morning, I was walking down the right hand side of #1. As luck would have it, Justin Leonard hit his opening tee shot about 20 feet away from me. I got to see Hunter Mahan hit the ensuing approach shot from about 10 feet away, front row and from directly behind (you might have seen me on TV). But Hunter did not have an easy shot into the green and yet, he made the sweetest contact I've ever seen on a golf ball. It's just phenomenal the level of talent of these players. Everyone knows that this field is arguably the top 24 players (minus Tiger) out of the USA and Europe. But it's not so easy to know just how mind-boggingly great these guys are at the game. The difference in ability between the players is razor thin. It's something that doesn't come out while watching on TV, but it's exceedingly apparent while watching them play in person.

* The "Official Ryder Cup Radio" was the best $11 I've ever spent. It was a joy listening to the banter of the BBC radio while out on the course. It's also surreal to hear the roar of the gallery on the radio before hearing it in person.

* It is obvious that Jack designed Valhalla with tournament play in mind. Each of the holes are basically amphitheaters with high ground surrounding the entire hole. This made it pretty easy for all 40,000 patrons to have a view of the action, especially around the greens.

* As impressive as Hunter Mahan has been in this tournament, he made an awful choice to putt the ball on 18 in the morning session. There was no way he was going to put the ball with 8 feet while keeping it on the ground. As a result, he put it 10 feet from the pin and Justin missed the resulting putt - and the Americans lost out on a 1/2 point.

* I don't think I will ever again see anyone stake a six-iron from 220 out on a 600 yard par-5 again like J.B. Holmes did on 10. That was really cool and the Euros made the right decision to give him the putt.

* The gallery was colorful and I was surprised at the number of Euros that made the trip. There were lots of Brits, Irish and Swedes in attendance.

* The amount of infrastructure to support the tournament is quite the feat. There is a 38,000 square foot temporary pro shop set up, multiple PGA learning centers, dozens of giant video boards. The PGA really spared no expense at putting this thing on.

* I peed next to Roger Maltbie. Yes, even TV commentators have to use the bathroom from time to time.

* As I think of more stuff, I'll add it here....