Ask anyone who has played in a Ryder Cup, and to a man, they will tell you the most terrifying moment of all is that first drive on the first hole of the first day.

Spectators are crammed into bleacher seats that seem situated just a little too close to the players themselves. The atmosphere is part rock concert, part pro wrestling match. It’s loud, and it’s proud. It’s “U.S.A! U.S.A.!” this week at Hazeltine National Golf Club. It will be “Ole, ole, ole, ole” in 2018 in Versailles, France.

It is everything golf isn’t. And everybody — players and fans — loves it.

Matt Kuchar remembers walking up to the No. 1 tee with American partner Stewart Cink for his first Ryder Cup in 2010 in Wales.

“It was a sloppy, rainy day, (and) the grandstands (were) the aluminum bleacher-style seating, and fans were stomping (their feet) on the stadium, and it felt like the whole place was going to collapse,” he said.

Here are some other players’ memories of their first Ryder Cup tee shots:

LEE WESTWOOD >

Europe, 11th Ryder Cup

“I first teed it up in ’97 (at Valderrrama in Spain) with (Nick) Faldo, so that made things a lot easier, knowing that I’ve got a multiple Ryder Cup partner and multiple major winner. We were playing Freddie (Couples) and Brad Faxon, and they obviously were the away team and they teed it up first. And I watched them put the tee in the ground and try and get their ball on the tee, and they were shaking like a leaf. So, I thought, wow, if they are nervous, then it’s perfectly natural that I’m going to be nervous, as well. You try to soak it all up and enjoy it, and tee it up and smack it down the middle. And once that’s done, then off you go.”

RORY MCILROY >

Europe, fourth Ryder Cup

“It’s an experience we don’t get any other time of the golfing year. We sort of wait once every two years for a moment like this, (when) you get on the first tee. For me, being over that first tee shot on Friday morning, even (with) everything that goes on around you, when you’re over that ball, everything becomes so quiet, and you can hear a pin drop.”

HENRIK STENSON >

Europe, fourth Ryder Cup

“It’s a lot of tension, and something you look forward to, but you’re still not sure how you’re going to react every time, I think, and we’ve seen some bad tee balls being hit, and surely pressure is why that could be.”

JORDAN SPIETH >

U.S., second Ryder Cup

“You asked me to paint a picture of what it’s like; I actually (have) a painted picture of that. It’s the main piece of artwork in my house. It’s right after I struck my first tee shot at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles (in 2014). You put the tee in the ground, your hand is shaking, you’re trying to get the ball onto the tee. But I hit a great shot, which was what makes me so excited about that painting — because it’s as nervous as I’ve ever been, and probably the best 3-wood I’ve ever hit. I take confidence every time I see that. I try and look at it every day.”