Garcia: Gallacher Is Ready

Ryder Cup rookie Stephen Gallacher may be battling to contain his excitement but European team-mate Sergio Garcia is convinced the Scot is ready for action. Gallacher, 39, will fulfil a "lifetime ambition" to play in the competition when he tees off against the Americans at Gleneagles later this week. With the match taking place just 35 miles from his home in Linlithgow, Gallacher has plenty of extra reason for nerves but the experienced Garcia expects him to cope. Garcia, who is playing in his seventh Ryder Cup, said: "Stephen has been great. He's obviously very excited about it, not only because he's Scottish, but it's his first Ryder Cup. "He's played really, really hard this year to be a part of this team, and you can see it in his eyes that he's willing and he's ready." In-form Gallacher was named as one of captain Paul McGinley's three wildcard picks, having narrowly missed out on automatic selection. He admits there was a time when he thought the Ryder Cup might pass him by but watching the 2012 contest at Medinah unfold inspired him to redouble his efforts. Gallacher said: "I definitely thought it had (gone), but I made a conscious effort a couple of years ago to get in this one. Especially for my generation, it's never going to be here again. It's a course I like in your home country. "It's the one that hopefully I can kick on from. As I've been here now, you get a taste for it and you want to play more. "I just improved every single part of my game, whether it be mental, whether it be nutrition, injury prevention, down to my equipment, swing tinkering, the way I go about things, routines, absolutely everything. "You get a little bit better in every aspect and the big picture gets better through that. "After watching Medinah and speaking to Paul Lawrie quite a bit - he was on a massive high coming off Medinah - I thought, you know what, I'm starting to play a bit better now, let's try. "I knew I had to have the best year of my life to get in, and I've had the best year of my life so far." Gallacher follows in the footsteps of his uncle Bernard, who played eight times and also captained Europe on three occasions. Among the things the pair have spoken about is the importance of keeping emotions under control in the build-up to the event. Gallacher said: "He says you're going to have long, long days, so it's all about conserving your energy. "Ultimately he wants me to enjoy myself, take a time-out to soak it in, 'just be yourself, play your own game'. "It was my lifetime ambition, it was my goal to get here. I'm proud that I'm sitting here. "I am very excited and it is a bit surreal still, because I live so close. But it's one I'm embracing and just trying to use the positive energy. "Playing yesterday, getting off the first and playing a round was good, hitting the first tee shot and whatnot. It's just hard to keep it in tow until Friday." That practice round with Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, however, proved a costly exercise. Gallacher said: "It cost me 150 quid! Rosie had a 10-skinner on one of the holes, which was a sore one." Amid the event's build-up event, former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was invited to speak to the European players on Tuesday. Gallacher enjoyed the pep-talk and also revealed that another prominent figure in the world of football management had been in touch. Gallacher, a Celtic fan, said: "I've had a lot of good luck messages pretty much just from all my friends and had one from Martin O'Neill, which was nice. "I spoke to him a couple of times, just because he's Paul's friend and he spoke to me at the Masters, and then he sent me a voicemail. "He just said, 'Well done for getting in, you'll love the team environment, probably one of the best weeks of your life'. And he's right, it will be."