Love expects tears to flow

American Ryder Cup captain Davis Love was in tears on Wednesday with the start of the match against Europe still two days away.

Talking about how his team are bonding on and off the course as the countdown continues in Chicago the 48-year-old struggled to get out the words when he said: "I love being around them".

Love then revealed that he and Masters champion Bubba Watson both cried during a team dinner on Tuesday night, when a film of Ryder Cup highlights was shown.

"Bubba and I are going to cry a lot," Love added.

There were more tears this afternoon when he was asked about Tucker Anderson, the 18-year-old son of a well-known golf coach seriously injured in a car crash last Friday.

The team are receiving regular updates on his condition.

Love also made it clear, however, that there is also a lot of fun being had - and a lot of table tennis being played.

He is determined that his players get as much enjoyment out of the whole experience as possible and has been stressing that the Ryder Cup is a golf match, "not a war".

This on the day Ian Poulter hit the headlines for saying that come this week every two years close friends on both sides want to "kill" each other on the course.

"It's intense," Love said. "Do we want to pummel them? Yes we do. We want to win.

"You know what, Ollie and I will go toe-to-toe at some point because it's intense. It'll be about carts going over a bridge or he has more carts than me or something.

"I remember Tom (Kite) with Seve (Ballesteros) once when Tom's ball was clearly on the green, but Seve asked about it and I went in and said 'OK boys, back off'.

"It was the way it was handled. Ollie and I will get testy, but it will be respectful - and for the crowd to be fair is ultimately the goal."