Paul Lawrie had jet lag and a considerably lighter wallet to contend with on his return to the Ryder Cup after a 13-year absence.
Lawrie was one of just three European players - the others being rookie Nicolas Colsaerts and Italy's Francesco Molinari - to fly from London to Chicago with captain Jose Maria Olazabal on Monday.
And that did the 43-year-old former Open champion no favours as he and Sergio Garcia were well beaten by Northern Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in the first practice round at Medinah.
Asked who won the match as he came off the 18th green, world number one McIlroy said with a smile: "Who do you think?"
And Lawrie, who hit the opening tee shot on his sole previous appearance at Brookline in 1999 and won three and a half points out of a possible five in the controversial defeat, admitted: "Sergio and I got whipped pretty bad.
"We lost a bit of cash today, which was not good. But it was nice to see the course.
"I was obviously pretty tired. We only got in yesterday and I'm not the best with jet lag, so I was pretty tired out there. I struggled a bit, only made a couple of birdies, but hopefully we'll play better tomorrow."
While the pairing of good friends McIlroy and McDowell came as no surprise, putting Garcia and Lawrie together had not been widely anticipated, but Lawrie was not surprised.
"No, not really, because the captain asked me who I would like to kind of play with this week and I said anyone," added Lawrie, who has won twice on the European Tour this season.
"I think a lot of the guys would say the same thing. It doesn't matter really who you play with. I think we're here as a team.
"My game is not suited to fourballs or foursomes (one more than the other). I think I'd be pretty easy for everyone to play with, so he (Olazabal) is maybe just trying a few things out this morning.
"Rory and Graeme both played pretty well, and Sergio and I didn't hole any putts, so it's going to be pretty difficult."
