Ryder Cup 2025: How will players cope with first-tee pressure at Bethpage Black? Golf's acid test that some seize and others let slip

Sport is awash with pressure moments, each with their own unique idiosyncrasies that pave the path to greatness.

A penalty in a World Cup shootout, a field goal in the dying moments of an NFL game, a championship point at a tennis Grand Slam, the first ball of an Ashes series - to name a few.

You'd expect golf's equivalent to be the walk down the fairway, to the 18th green, for a putt to win a major, but in reality, it's something much more ordinary.

Golfers hit thousands - if not millions - of tee shots over their careers, yet time and again, one stands apart: the first at a Ryder Cup. This singular moment has exacted such a mental and physical toll that even the game's most composed and accomplished players have been beset with anxiety.

Not even career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy,