Azinger: victorious

Breakfast was served as sausage or bacon rolls - with cheese. Our lunchboxes brought out to us on the course (the same every day) were chicken, beef or turkey sandwiches, with cheese. They came with cheese-flavoured crisps. We ate out one night and were invited to help ourselves to the salad bar, a selection of sliced and diced cheese (American, cheddar, blue) and salads pre-dressed with grated cheese! We even heard from a friend in the hotel how he'd tried a strange starter with his meal out - cheese and beer soup!

James Haddock
Quotes of the week

So, it's all over. The Ryder Cup finished for 2008, Europe on the losing time for the first time since 1999. For the Sky Sports News crew in Louisville it's been an incredible week, one which none of us will forget in a hurry.

So many great memories, where do I begin? Well the people of Louisville were extremely hospitable, they embraced the arrival of golf's top team tournament in their town, and they played their part in the USA victory.

Today as we leave America to come home, our journey has an edge of disappointment that the Europeans weren't winners for a record fourth time in a row. However, looking at the long-term future of the Ryder Cup we may look back on this as an important result in years to come, one which kept the American interest in Ryder Cup golf well and truly alive.

I'll tell you something else, Kentucky is certainly keeping the cheese industry alive as well, more about that later.

Before travelling to the airport on Monday morning we were up early to go and see the European players as they departed Louisville for the UK. Bleary-eyed from only four hours sleep we made our way to the coffee bar in our hotel for a ritual caffeine shot to wake us up, only to find one of the TV gophers we knew staggering sideways, she'd certainly had a good night putting the five-point defeat behind her!

After leaving her to negotiate the lobby, we went up to the European team hotel in downtown Louisville. The players were on an early-morning departure to ensure they got back into London by late Monday night.

There was a relaxed atmosphere amongst the group, although Nick Faldo seemed a little on edge once our cameraman began filming his every step (thankfully no attempts from Faldo at a comedy trip while walking past this time, as he seems to do so often when facing a camera lense). He'd done a similar job the night before at his post-match press conference ducking questions while his team leapt to defend their captain.

The players seemed in pretty high spirits, given they'd lost the Ryder Cup only 12 hours earlier, and given that they were sharing the same hotel as the American team, they'd ended up joining Team USA in their night of celebrations.

Some carefully made their way to the team bus (still clinching their drinks!), but these guys had played some of the highest standard golf seen in modern times at a Ryder Cup, so who would blame them for letting off steam after the last day?

Character

Not many of the players appeared to have had much, if any, sleep. I wonder if they took up the Kentucky crowd's chant, in the hotel bar, "Boo-S-A, Boo-S-A" to welcome America's new favourite player Boo Weekley. The fans loved chanting that at Valhalla this week for the biggest character to ever hit the Ryder Cup stage.

The European fans had certainly done their bit too though. On Sunday morning I bumped into a great bunch of guys, six dressed as green leprechauns, a blue European matador and six Scotsman in kilts carrying with them a cardboard cut-out of Colin Montgomerie!

Monty didn't have much to say for himself, but these guys summed up the spirit of the Ryder Cup for me. They were treating it like going to the final of Euro 2008 or the Wimbledon final, it meant that much to them. After meeting them, their positivity made me believe Europe were going to do it again.

The atmosphere around the first tee as Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia stepped up to begin their singles match was simply electric. Forget being "like a football match" this is without doubt the single most exciting crowd I have ever been a part of. Like a football match? This was better!

Once the hairs on the back of my neck had calmed down a bit, it was back to work.

We were lucky enough to get our own TV tower at Valhalla GC, it had a perfect view looking up the ninth fairway towards the clubhouse and also down towards the first tee. Boy, was it hot up there though! Trying to keep hydrated, keep an eye on what was going on through a TV monitor and catch any action passing by proved a real test, when all I wanted to do was get into the shade and an air-con-supplied room, perhaps with a nice bit of cheese!

Right, I must explain the whole cheese thing. It appears from our brief visit that Kentucky and Louisville have an obsession with cheese. Every meal, every salad, everything edible seems to come with cheese - as standard! Our producer struggled like mad all week to be served a 'plain salad, no cheese, no dressing, no sauce, oh and yeah - no cheese!'.

Breakfast was served as sausage or bacon rolls - with cheese. Our lunchboxes brought out to us on the course (the same every day) were chicken, beef or turkey sandwiches, with cheese. They came with cheese-flavoured crisps. We ate out one night and were invited to help ourselves to the salad bar, a selection of sliced and diced cheese (American, cheddar, blue) and salads pre-dressed with grated cheese! We even heard from a friend in the hotel how he'd tried a strange starter with his meal out - cheese and beer soup!

These guys seem to put cheese with everything, if it's not got cheese - put some cheese on it. If it is cheese, put some more cheese on it! I'm now just waiting to see if they take it to the next level - Diet Coke with Cheese? Our producer Haydn had us all in stitches when he made a comment about the situation without realising what he'd said 'maybe someone from the hotel is on the Cheese Board'.

Plunging

Anyway, getting back to the golf, what a strange week it was. Throughout most of the competition most of the American players couldn't put a club or putter wrong! I leave though with four moments I'll struggle to forget - two putts and two hazards.

Oliver Wilson sinking his 25-foot putt on the 17th green in the Saturday morning foursomes to help give him and Henrik Stenson victory over Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim.

Hunter Mahan's equally long putt on the 17th in his singles match on Sunday.

Sergio Garcia plunging his fairway shot on the seventh into the water on singles Sunday - twice

JB Holmes and Boo Weekley both going into the water hazard from the tee playing up the 18th on the opening day.

There were, of course, plenty of moments I'll not forget in a hurry which were less to do with shots being played on the course! The general atmosphere around Valhalla all week was a credit to the sport and something the thousands of fans should be incredibly proud of. These were the best bits though:

Our cameraman Ollie thinking he could bring us two cups of coffee over a quarter-of-a-mile by golf buggy across an undulating gravel track, only to arrive back at our position in the TV area with two empty paper cups and a golf buggy covered in coffee.

Ian Poulter's wide-eyed, fist-pumping celebrations at winning points.

My attempts after the closing ceremony to kill Ollie by driving the buggy round a blind corner almost straight into another one carrying a team of groundsmen.

Boo Weekley riding his driver like a pony off the first tee on the final day - unique!

That's the word which finally sums up our week in Louisville, Kentucky - unique.

I've watched a lot of golf, but you'll never get an atmosphere like this for three days at any other tournament. The Ryder Cup truly brings something special to golf, it's a shame Europe didn't win again this time, but I think the Americans deserved their victory.

Now roll on Celtic Manor in two years' time.