Monday 24 September 2018 11:12, UK
This week's Ryder Cup features two of the strongest teams in the history of the contest, and Sky Sports presenter James Haddock is preparing for a rollercoaster of emotions at Le Golf National.
Golf provides great drama and special moments week in week out, we're lucky that across the European Tour and PGA Tours we have a current crop of sporting superstars who battle it out for trophies and plenty of prize money.
Nothing though can match the scale of a Ryder Cup, it's not even close!
This will be my sixth Ryder Cup that I have attended and it still feels like I'm 10 years old and it's Christmas Eve. There is a magical quality, an aura about the Ryder Cup which has grown significantly in recent years.
Perhaps it's down to the attitude of 'them against us', a two tribes football mentality that we just don't experience usually in the sport where 156 individuals start a regular week to play for themselves.
The event is unique in that, it's the biggest team competition in golf, it's one of the biggest events in golf and it draws in a huge non-golfing audience as much as it fuels the passions of the golfing enthusiast.
Pick your side, blue v red, Europe v USA, us v them, then sit back and enjoy or endure the greatest rollercoaster of emotions I have ever witnessed, over three frantic days of sporting passion, drama and despair.
From the off on Friday morning the atmosphere at a Ryder Cup has a special buzz about it.
It's like a constant flow of anticipation and emotion, it feels not dissimilar to how I imagine it would be to watch a Anthony Joshua making a knockout punch, a winning goal in the Champions League final, your horse being overtaken in the final furlong at Cheltenham, your child being born, your house sale falling through and getting out of a plane on a parachute jump.
It brings out raw emotion, nerves, excitement, pure joy and quite often tears as well as cheers. It drives both players and fans alike - it means everything to win.
It is so hard to compare to anything else in golf, including the infrastructure surrounding the event. The size of the stands, the number of fans is unlike almost any other week on the schedule.
This year's host Le Golf National staged the Open de France back in July and enjoyed good crowds of around 10,000 per day, the BMW PGA Championship regularly draws in around 20,000 per day, while at the majors it's usually around 40-50,000 per day enjoying world-class golf.
This Ryder Cup is expected to bring in at least 60,000 per day! It will be interesting to see how the atmosphere takes off here this week, 43 per cent of tickets have gone to French fans, in only the second visit this event has made onto continental Europe.
One of the key areas will, as always, be on and around the first tee - and this year is going to be something pretty special. Through my years at Valhalla, Celtic Manor, Medinah, Gleneagles and Hazeltine I am still amazed each time at the sheer numbers of fans getting to the course and into the 1st tee grandstand at 6am, grabbing pole position for the matches getting underway.
There's songs being sung in the darkness, led usually by the Guardians of the Cup with their witty take on tunes for each player. This is a moment you never want to miss, it's magical - the most special sporting experience I've ever had.
This year the stand behind the first is a monster! Hazeltine seated 1,800 fans alongside the opening hole two years ago, Gleneagles' mini-stadium set up at the first sat 2,200, while this wraparound grandstand behind the 1st tee and 18th green seats a staggering 6,900 fans!
The noise is going to be incredible, I can't wait to see Ian Poulter or Bubba Watson trying to whip up this crowd before hitting their ball. While standing on the tee earlier today I also got to see how easy it would be to become intimidated or feel overawed by the situation.
That is why the talk about Ryder Cup rookies always surfaces and how it's important not to have too many in the team.
This is unlike anything any of them have experienced anywhere else. Stories from each and every team over the years highlight how some players struggle to tee up their ball on the first on a Friday morning due to nerves, some talk about how they hoped they would just hit the fairway.
These are guys who have no problem hitting these shots in a regular event on a Thursday morning, but everything changes when in the team colours and they're playing for their team-mates, their captain and their continent.
The rookies these days are hardly golfing novices, they've played on some of the greatest stages and performed well - but the constant cup final atmosphere is something new to contend with. Some thrive, others may wilt. That though is the beauty of it.
I spoke with the general manager here, Paul Armitage, the excitement clear to see on his face although he confessed he'll be pretty emotional once we get underway on Friday morning. It's been a long journey for him and his team to get to this point.
The Albatross course is a thinking man's set-up, a strategic test - perfect for the Ryder Cup. Now he's got his fingers crossed that this 42nd edition of the event leaves a strong legacy, some big moments, some great drama and a few iconic images.
If the result may be one which seems hard to predict with two incredibly strong teams going head to head, one thing is certain - there'll be no lack of passion, drama, joy and despair over the three days of play, whatever the final score is.
There's plenty of time until then, the teams arrive on Monday then there's practice rounds, press conferences, captain's matches and celebrity golfers playing too, there's pairings to predict, preview shows and plenty of talk about what may happen.
For me though, I'm back to being 10-years-old on Christmas Eve again, wishing away hours or days of my life - I want it to be Christmas Day morning, I want it to be Friday morning at the Ryder Cup!
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