Surprise the biggest emotion of incredible Ryder Cup

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Members of Team USA celebrate after America's 16 1/2 - 11 1/2 victory on the final day of the '08 Ryder Cup at Valhalla GC.

What will you remember about the 2008 season? That was the question we asked PGATOUR.COM staffers and freelance contributors, who responded with a series of short essays that we will post during November (click here for the archive link).

I suppose for me, it started in England.

A few of us, including myself, columnist T.J. Auclair and XM Radio's Brian Katrek, were covering the British Open, and one night we were sitting around the kitchen of our rented house, sipping some Guinness and discussing what was going to happen a couple of months later in Louisville at the Ryder Cup.

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The basic feeling around the table was that we -- meaning the U.S., of course -- were going to get our butts kicked.

"Why?" I asked. "Whoever we end up with should match up well."

Katrek wasted no time in replying.

"It just doesn't matter as much to our guys," Katrek said. "Kids in America dream of hitting a putt to win the Masters. Kids here dream of hitting a putt to win the Ryder Cup."

Hunter Mahan's much-ballyhooed comments about the event seemed to drive the point home about the American approach. "The whole week is extremely long," he told Golf magazine back in the spring. "You've got dinners every night -- not little dinners but huge, massive dinners. I know, as players, that's the last thing we want to do. You're just a slave that week."

So I went to Louisville expecting to see nothing short of an execution. It ended up being anything but that.

From the pep rally on 4th street that was attended by thousands of rowdies, to the frenzy surrounding the opening shots, to the sight of Boo Weekley galloping on his golf club down the first fairway, (in white socks, no less), to the chanting that resembled a European football match, to the incredible golf, this was no ordinary event. This was a happening.

After Saturday's birdie-filled, emotion-filled matches, (you know, the day Ian Poulter's eyes looked as though they were going to bulge out of the sockets after that birdie putt on 18), I started getting text messages from friends of mine who I know had never swung a golf club in their lives.

"Did you see that?"

Uh, yeah. I was there.

"Hey, you're there, right? Can you score me some tickets for tomorrow? I can grab a flight at 6 a.m."

Sure, no problem. After that, maybe I can sell you a bridge and fly to Neverland.

Even the other reporters -- many of whom would boo the Easter Bunny if given the chance -- marveled at the spectacle, scrambling through their thesauruses searching for another word for "great."

Truthfully, the whole week actually crystalized for me even before the first shot was hit on Sunday afternoon. When I arrived at Valhalla, I dropped my stuff in the media center. As I headed over to the dining room to grab an early lunch, I could hear the European fans chanting that catchy but annoying "Ole, ole, ole, ole" song. Once they got a bit riled up, you could hear the American fans begin to counter with "U.S.A.! U.S.A!"

This was a good hour before the singles matches were even scheduled to start. This was going to be a "great" day.

We even had a bit of that going on in our little corner of the media center. We were stationed one row behind the group covering the event for the European Tour's site. They would cheer, then we would cheer, then they would sigh, then we would sigh.

And after it was over, we all shared some champagne -- and chanted.

Was it all due to U.S. Captain Paul Azinger and his "13th man" mantra? Was it all because of all the new faces that gave us so much excitement? Was it because it was held in Louisville, a city that was primed up for the experience? Who knows? Who cares?

One thing's for sure -- this was hardly slavery.

Mark Spoor, PGATOUR.COM's Coordinating Producer, is a former professional bowler who insists that shooting 300 at a golf course is "a perfect game."