CHASKA, Minn. -- Mark James played in the Ryder Cup seven times and captained the European side at Brookline in 1999. Here, the honorary life member of the European Tour gives his views on the 41st edition of the contest in Minnesota.
Thomas Pieters can make a bit of history on Sunday and has been so incredible here that it would be more than deserved.
Just hitting his initial tee shot in the singles against J.B. Holmes will make him the first European rookie to play in all five sessions since 1999, and if he wins his match, he will set a benchmark for the number of wins at four.
I hope he gets a European victory to go with all that, of course, but there is success on the horizon for the Belgian regardless.
Pieters has played so well that you have to think there are major wins in him. At Hazeltine, he has just taken to Ryder Cup golf like a duck to water.
In all of his matches, he has looked cool, calm, composed, but with just the right amount of adrenaline. It has been incredible to watch; I don't think I've seen anything like it in a rookie.
The 24-year-old's demeanour never changed a great deal. He got pumped up at exactly the right times and looked pretty close to perfect, like he was made for this competition.
Pieters is a huge talent, certainly. He's a good driver, hits the ball a long way, hits with his irons well, chips OK and putts well.
He doesn't really have a weakness in any department. Even Tiger Woods at his best had weaknesses.
Pieters reminds me of Nick Faldo, the Englishman who didn't have any holes in his game. He is a modern version of Faldo -- bigger hitting, higher flying, more aggressive.
But more important than his good all-round game is that he has the temperament to perform at the highest level, and that might set him apart.
When Pieters looked to the crowd and held his fingers to the lips on the first hole on Saturday that showed his self-confidence.
Pieters is clearly not scared to put himself about, and that says a lot about his personality. He's not someone who will back down; if he is like that off the course, he can, and will, play the same way because he has the talent to do so.
Facing Holmes won't be easy but there is a reason Darren Clarke chose to play him third, behind only Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson: he has been one of Europe's best players here.
I would have fancied Pieters' chances against anyone in the singles, and everyone knows how good he is now.
I'm not quite so confident about the other European rookies: Rafa Cabrera Bello has done pretty well; Chris Wood and Danny Willett have played OK; we haven't seen Andy Sullivan since the first day; and Matt Fitzpatrick had a bit of a tough time with Henrik Stenson on Saturday morning.
Europe should get some points out of the rookies beyond Pieters, but the best, early players need to win or their team will go down. They just can't rely on the rookies to pull them through after going into the singles three points behind.
Clarke's team can't let the Americans get on a roll and get more momentum, either, or the home side and their fans will get pumped up and the hopes of a comeback will be history. They need to keep the crowd quiet and get our guys flying to have a chance.
Mark James was talking to Leo Spall.