Gallacher lands BBC in hot water

An entertaining spat developed between the father of America's least-heralded and most-enjoyable player Jeff Overton and the never-knowingly-contented former Ryder Cup Bernard Gallacher. On the eighth hole of Overton's singles match against Ross Fisher, Fisher's tee-shot landed in churned-up rough and he asked the referee for a ruling. When he got a drop, Overton questioned it. Whereupon Gallacher, walking with the group as an inside-the-ropes reporter for BBC Radio Five Live, insinuated himself into the conversation and grumbled that this was 'typical American gamesmanship'.

What Gallacher had missed was Ron Overton who was walking close by. Taking objection to a reporter interfering in a Ryder Cup match – he had no idea who Gallacher was and nor had his son – he walked over and stood nose-to-nose with the three-time European captain and told him that he should mind his own business. Gallacher replied, "If your son knew the rules, I wouldn't have to get involved."

Gallacher, who was a vocal and unapologetically biased presence throughout the weekend, may reflect that he did more harm than good. Fisher promptly lost six of the next nine holes, slumping from two up to a 3&2 defeat. The bad taste lingered though, with the BBC eventually putting out a statement about it on Thursday.

"During a tense conclusion to the Ryder Cup," it read, "highly-respected former Ryder Cup player and captain Bernard Gallacher spoke to American player Jeff Overton and his father regarding a referee ruling. The comment was made off air and didn't interfere with play or the referee's ruling, no offense was intended or taken."

Hmmm. Not sure Ron Overton would agree with that last bit.

Tiger puzzles his way to Wales

If you've ever pondered what Tiger Woods does to kill time on a long flight, ponder no longer. And no, it doesn't include air hostesses. Apparently, he's a Sudoku fiend. Reports from inside the American camp say that he spent most of the flight coming over with pen in hand and furrowed brow. He even tore a few of them out to give to Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, much as a parent would to calm a couple of boisterous kids. So now you know.

Cup just gets bigger and bigger

Sometimes size is tough to convey. Certainly no one tuning in on television last weekend could have properly grasped the sheer depth of the Usk Valley in which Celtic Manor is laid out. Indeed, valley hardly does it justice. Canyon would be closer to the mark.

As a measure of just how big the corporate side of the Ryder Cup has become, however, consider the following. The first of the 180 temporary buildings that went up around the complex began construction as far back as June. And if all goes to plan, it will still take until early December for them all to be removed. As for when the grass will grow back, that's anybody's guess.

'Watergate' catches another president

A final word on Team USA's wetsuits, which turned out to be very wet indeed on Friday as the heavens emptied, causing the PGA of America to scurry to the merchandise hangar and drop a cool £9,000 on replacements for players, caddies and backroom staff. Hilariously, the president of Sun Mountain Sports has been in full 'Comical Ali' mode all week since his very own Watergate. In an interview with Golf World, Rick Reimers couldn't bring himself to own up to what the problem was.

"I didn't know what to think," he said when asked what went though his mind when he heard about the problem the US players were having. "I doubted the garments were actually leaking. I still do." Nah, Rick, they weren't leaking. They were just letting water in. Totally different thing.