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 Unlike the boorish, often alcohol-fuelled drone of the "Barmy
Army" that is now the regular backdrop to any England cricket match,
the "Guardians" are cut from a different cloth -- literally.
Nine of them had commandeered the most prized seats in Scotland on
Friday, the front row of the main grandstand right behind the first
tee at Gleneagles, and they could not be missed.
Each sported matching bright yellow shirts and caps with a snazzy
blue waistcoat dotted with golden stars on the front and a Ryder Cup
and "Guardians" on the back.
Not for them a simple "Europe" chant -- these men had spent months
devising then perfecting individual ditties for just about every
European player on the team, and the rest of the crowd -- and the
players from both teams -- were happy to sit quietly and enjoy the
show.
"We've been doing it like this for the last three Ryder Cups, though
the first we went to was 2002," Ed Oliver, founder member of the
"Ryder Cup Guardians", told Reuters.
"It's good fun, we're mostly a group of old university friends and
it gives us the chance to get together.
"Do you like the suits? My great grandma Hazel Oliver made them."
Some of the chants, such as "Bjorn v the USA" to the tune of the
Bruce Springsteen anthem to welcome Dane Thomas Bjorn, were simple
but others were complicated and wordy re-workings of three-verse
songs.
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"We sort of go over them back and forth via email then get together
for a bit of a practice via FaceTime," Oliver said.
"Viva Garcia," to the tune of "Viva Espana" and a simple,
foot-stomping "Rory" greeted Europe's top paring of Sergio Garcia
and Rory McIlroy.
Ian Poulter was, as usual, "Walking in a Poulter Wonderland", while
local debutant Stephen Gallacher is unlikely to ever forget the
rousing rendition of "There's only one Stevie G" that introduced him
to the tee.
Oliver refused to say what time his group had arrived to occupy
their ringside seats for the 06.35GMT start, but said: "It was very
dark and it feels like mid-afternoon now so, it was pretty early."
(Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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