The twilight zone in which the captain sits exists in part because of how he is chosen. For a role that invites such pressure and responsibility over the months at the business end of a Ryder Cup, the captaincy is handed out on an almost laughably quaint basis. It's the European and PGA Tours' equivalent of a gold watch. Thanks very much old chap, nice to have had you around the place all these years . . . now could you possibly go out and organise these 12 singular egomaniacs into a coherent mass for three days, all the while convincing the outside world that you know exactly what you're doing even though nobody has any concrete idea of what being good at the job entails? Thanks awfully, old boy.

Ian Woosnam couldn't hardly be more different to Bernhard Langer before him or Nick Faldo after him. But you take 29 wins over 19 years on tour and you add it to eight Ryder Cup appearances and you get a man who's done his time and deserves his moment under the spotlight. Tom Lehman's been around since forever, fought his way through three Ryder Cups (and was scandalously overlooked for a fourth in 2001) so he gets a go at it as well. To then expect either of them to be good at it is a bit of a leap.

So far, neither has made what could be regarded as a shocking mistake . . . base camp for any captain looking to be generously thought of when it's all done and dusted. Woosnam has stayed resolutely in the background, shaking his players' hands on their way to the first tee and then getting out of their way. He's taken a few outside-the-box risks in his selections . . . Lee Westwood being the most obvious of them, not to mention most successful. The renewing of his partnership with Clarke on the stated basis that both had won European Opens here in the past has paid off in spectacular fashion. Two matches, two wins. The marquee American parings of Woods/Furyk and Mickelson/DiMarco swatted aside on successive mornings.

Another gamble was to do something no European captain in Ryder Cup history had done. When he announced his pairings for Friday afternoon, none of them were the same as on Friday morning. This despite taking a one-point lead away from the fourballs. This despite Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal sailing home against David Toms and Brett Wetterich. The easiest thing in the world would have been to have kept them together but instead Woosnam had long had it in his head that because Garcia and Luke Donald had been such a hit in their foursomes matches in Detroit, he'd pair them up again here. Same with Clarke and Westwood.

It seems so simple when you think about it. Take players who'd done well together in a particular format before and put them together in that format again.

And it worked. The morning session was won by a point, just like it had been on Friday. So he's a great captain. Sorry, but that's how it goes. He earned the good mood he was in yesterday lunchtime.

"That was a great morning's work, " he said. "I'm told with that win that Jose Maria has joined me with 10 and a half fourball points . . . the most in Ryder Cup history by any individual on either team.

at least I haven't lost my record. Yet." Oh, Woosie, what a kidder you are.

"Seriously, " he continued, "when you have two guys like Jose Maria and Sergio who are absolutely brimming with confidence and spirit . . . that Spanish spirit . . . then you know they only have winning on their minds. You could see how much they enjoyed it out there despite all the rain and you can't ask for two points out of two from the fourballs from them. Phil [Mickelson] and Chris [DiMarco] played great . . . they just met the dynamic Spanish duo out there."