They often say that sorry is the hardest word. This correspondent thought Otorhinolaryngologist was harder but what do I know?

Here at the 41st Ryder Cup, though, the apologies are flying about with remarkable ease and abundance. If it’s not Phil Mickelson saying sorry to Hal Sutton, then it’s Danny Willett saying sorry on behalf of his brother Pete who has also said sorry to Danny for a sorry saga that Pete started by writing a sorry article slagging off the Americans. To cap it all, Willett then had to say sorry to a spectator for hitting him with an errant tee-shot during practice yesterday. At this unfortunate rate, he’ll probably end up knocking the Ryder Cup itself of its presentation plinth. And, yes, he’ll have to say sorry for that too.

Willett may have crowned an unsuspecting punter, but he also hit the nail on the head with a simple observation. “I think we’re just 24 guys just wanting to play some golf,” he said. The rampant build up to the Ryder Cup has been going on for so long now, most of the golf writers have typed their fingers into calloused stumps. The collective sigh of relief when the actual match starts will probably whip up a tsunami in the Great Lakes.

For Willett, Ryder Cup week was going along swimmingly until the publication of his brother’s now well-documented magazine column which led to this latest frenzy of apologies. Even Willett’s mum and dad were pondering flying back home. “Let’s just forgive and forget,” said Team America’s Patrick Reed of the situation. That’s what Willett’s brother is probably hoping for too after his so-called tongue-in-cheek scribblings that labelled US fans a ‘braying mob of imbeciles’ and a bunch of 'fat, stupid, greedy, classless, b*******’.

Danny must have felt like the champion of the world coming into this week’s showpiece. A shimmering year which started with an astonishing win in the Masters now bookended by a maiden Ryder Cup appearance? The last thing he would have been expecting was to be sat in front of the global media explaining away the editorial judgement of his ruddy brother. “Family is family,” he said with a wry smile. “What he said was wrong and incredibly ill-timed but he’s still my brother.”

Timing is everything in this game but this hoopla could not have arrived at a worse time as the pressure builds, the stomach begins to churn and the anticipation stirs the senses. When he needs to be focused, Willett has almost been forced to take his eye off the ba’.

“As a rookie, it’s supposed to be a special week,” added the former Walker Cup player. “What was said was said and there’s no going back on that now and hopefully we can draw a line under it. But it’s been hard for me to get back on and fully focus over the last few hours. That’s been the toughest thing. I have to be relatively selfish in all this and say that I appreciate that (writing) is maybe my brother’s career but this is my career at the same time. If it was someone else writing it and his last name wasn’t Willett nobody would be making much of a fuss about it. It’s unfortunate and it has put a bit of a downer on my first Ryder Cup. I’m sure we’ll have a good chat when we get home.”

A Ryder Cup on US soil is always an intimidating, hostile environment as the flag-waving, hooting, hollering masses generate a boisterous patriotic fervour. As the reigning Masters champion, Willett is already a figure to shoot down. Now he probably has an even bigger target on the back of that green jacket. “I don’t think any of the European lads ever came to America and thought it would be a walk in the park,” he added. “There are some pretty rowdy American fans at every Ryder Cup. That’s the nature of the beast. You don’t mind a bit of heckling but you hope it doesn’t go too far.”

He may be a major winner in America, but the Ryder Cup will still be something of a step into the unknown for Willett, as it will be for the five other rookies in the European side.

Six years ago at Celtic Manor, Martin Kaymer was a new recruit in the ranks. Two years later in Chicago he more than earned his stripes with the nerveless winning putt that completed the Miracle of Medinah. For Willett and the rest of the new faces, the message is clear. “Try to find a way to calm yourself down, don’t try anything special and just play and enjoy what you love,” said the German.

If Willett and the rest of Team Europe can do that, then nobody will be sorry. Now, that would be a nice change.