Tiger Woods may not be at Whistling Straits, but his influence was felt as the United States made a rip-roaring start to their Ryder Cup trophy bid.
The 45-year-old Woods is continuing his recovery from the February high-speed car crash near Los Angeles that left him with serious leg injuries, and it remains to be seen whether he is capable of playing again on tour.
But the 15-time major winner is willing the USA team to snatch back the cup from Europe, and Xander Schauffele revealed he had been in touch with a few words of encouragement.
Woods, who often struggled to take his world-beating form onto the Ryder Cup stage, had his say before the Americans raced into a 3-1 lead following the morning foursomes.
Schauffele, after teaming up with fellow debutant Patrick Cantlay to land a dazzling 5 and 3 win over Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, confirmed Woods wanted to offer help from afar.
"We got a nice message from Tiger last night," Schauffele said on the Golf Channel.
"I'm not going to reveal what it said, but Pat and I knew and we referred to it a few times today, and we knew what we needed to do.
"We knew he was fist-pumping from the couch. Whether he was on crutches or not, he's as fired up as anyone back at home, so it's nice to have his support."
Woods has a disappointing record of just 13 wins from 37 Ryder Cup matches, an unexpectedly weak performance given his PGA Tour and major championship prowess.
But he remains an idol for many players on the team, with Schauffele and Cantlay two of six rookies on Steve Stricker's roster this year.
Cantlay said: "[There's] no better role model and no better leader and somebody you can always learn from.
"I saw him last week at home and picked his brain on Ryder Cup and applied some of that here today."
The USA pair sped to a 5up lead through five holes on the way to their dominant victory, feeding off the largely American crowd.
A disappointed McIlroy said: "The start wasn't great. I don't know if anyone could have beat Xander and Patrick today.
"They played really good, four birdies in a row. Geez, yeah, they played great. They were a great pairing today, and all you can do is praise them for the way they played."
