News round-up: Some 1.3 billion people in 40 countries viewed the opening day of the Ryder Cup 2006 on television yesterday, the organisers have said.
Coverage of the event was broadcast to 400 million homes, with a further 80 million receiving daily highlights.
The course, at the K Club in Straffan Co Kildare, was full with some 45,000 golf fans arriving from early morning to follow the action.
The event went ahead in near-perfect golf weather at 8am despite a lashing from the tail of Hurricane Gordon on Thursday night.
Winds of up to 100km/h (62 mph) were recorded on site when the storm was at its peak shortly after 9pm. Trees came down, large branches broke away and one female spectator was injured when she was hit on the arm by a falling branch, on the main avenue through the course.
Temporary structures on the site were evacuated shortly afterwards, and the 65 overnight cleaners, who had been looking after the various tents since the event began, were told not to arrive for work for safety reasons. A member of staff was also injured when fencing blew down near the north bus terminal. And almost a kilometre of fencing was lost at the Weston Aerodrome park and ride centre.
The clean-up operation began at first light when the 50-strong greenkeeping team began gathering the debris, which had been scattered on the course during the height of the winds.
Edward Kilson, Ryder Cup staging director, said they were fully prepared to delay the start of play if the winds had not subsided. "At five [ am], if the wind was too strong or unsafe, we would have delayed bringing people on site," he said. "But they had dropped to around 20mph [ 32km/h] and there was no damage to the course in any way."
Weston was also assessed and repaired before buses began departing from 5.30am onwards.
Mr Kilson said they were expecting showery conditions for the rest of the tournament.
On the course, the crowd had a special welcome for Darren Clarke when he teed off with partner Lee Westwood shortly before 9am. He also received hugs of support from opposition pair, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco. Afterwards, he said it was an emotional time for him on the first tee, but that he received a reception he would not forget.
When golf fans were not following their favourites yesterday, they were watching for celebrities. In contrast to the event's gala dinner, some did make an appearance, many in the prestigious Boyne Suite overlooking the 18th green. These included Eddie Irvine, Sam Torrance, Tony Jacklin, Keith Duffy, Boris Becker, Eddie Jordan and Keith Wood. Michael Jordan travelled around the course with Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, and ex-president George Bush Snr was spotted in the clubhouse as was course creator Arnold Palmer.
Meanwhile, though the tournament only began properly yesterday, some people were already looking to the future.
Ryder Cup Wales 2010 Ltd arrived in Ireland to size up the Irish performance, learn from the mistakes and provide the perfect event at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport in four years' time.
