For once Ian Poulter, the self-styled “postman” who has become Europe’s bellwether, could not deliver as he suffered his heaviest ever Ryder Cup defeat. And for Stephen Gallacher, the hometown wildcard pick who lives less than 40 miles away from Gleneagles, an opening day dream turned into a nightmare as the pair were well beaten 5&4 in their opening fourballs match.

By contrast the rookie American pairing with the lowest combined age in Ryder Cup history – Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed – played a nerveless round to upstage their much-hyped rivals.

Poulter’s Ryder Cup reputation as America’s bogeyman had been relentlessly promoted by both sides in the wake of his Medinah heroics and seven straight victories. Spieth described him a “Ryder Cup wizard” but refused to be intimidated. The 21-year-old and, in particular, his 25-year-old playing partner were more than up to the task. Tom Watson said he had thrown them into the sea without a lifebelt. They swam nervelessly against a tide of fans willing them to lose, instead piling all the pressure on their opponents.

Gallacher’s march to the first tee, resplendent in his saltire jumper, was as spine-tingling as he had hoped, the crowd serenading the only Scot on show with Flower of Scotland and Poulter doing his best to whip them up. But things went downhill from there. A wayward drive from Gallacher landed in a fairway bunker, before Poulter missed a putt from three feet to go one down.

Gallacher, the third Bathgate player to make the Ryder Cup after his uncle Bernard and Eric Brown, seemed to let the occasion get to him. He looked pale and drawn, his vociferous backers – 20 deep at points of the course – hoping a birdie on the par-five second would settle any nerves. But his tee shots remained wayward and his putts failed to find the hole. A comedy of errors in the rough on a blustery fifth hole was sadly typical of the way Gallacher’s day was going, before the Americans pressed home their advantage with birdies on the sixth and seventh.

The Scot admitted afterwards that it took him “five or six holes” to get into his stride and that he was “a bit out of rhythm”. Nerves affected him “a wee bit to start with”. “I didn’t feel under any pressure at all. I was really looking forward to it, and it just didn’t really pan out. That was all,” said Gallacher.

As another putt from Poulter slipped by under cloudless skies on the seventh, the watching captain Paul McGinley tried to hide a grimace and attempted to buoy the spirits of Gallacher, who had been struggling in the sand again.

Reed holed four birdies and Spieth two over the 14 holes the Americans required for victory. In contrast, Gallacher and Poulter could manage only one between them.

There had been much discussion of Poulter’s magical motivational properties and McGinley believed that pairing him with Gallacher would help settle the newcomer. But they never quite gelled. Where Spieth and Reed – who play together often – combined to put pressure on their opponents, too often the Europeans appeared to be out of sync. “They dovetailed very well, and when one was out, one was in. It’s tough to beat. We just never got the birdies,” reflected Gallacher.

The huge crowd was becalmed, with Spieth noting with satisfaction afterwards how “quiet” they seemed. When a lone voice cried out: “Keep your head up Stevie” as they trudged off the ninth at four down, it cannot have been how Gallacher had imagined his Ryder Cup debut going.

Three birdies on the next three holes left Reed and Spieth, the youngest American Ryder Cup player for 85 years, a commanding six up. A par on the 12th gave the European pair their first win of the day but it was purely academic. “I think we were looking to get off to a fast start. That didn’t happen, and we couldn’t seem to get anything going,” admitted Poulter.

One half-hearted fist-pump on the third green aside, it was a strangely flat performance from Poulter. All the conjecture had been around whether he would be able to pull off his usual trick of raising his game for the Ryder Cup. For once, his powers deserted him.

If there was any doubt as to the significance of the victory in American minds, it was removed by the sight of Watson’s glee as he embraced Spieth after Poulter again left a putt short on the 14th to concede the contest.

Both Gallacher and Poulter insisted they would not have played in the afternoon regardless of the result and vowed to bounce back from their disappointment. In contrast the American pair, full of youthful dynamism, seemed aggrieved not to be asked to capitalise on their stunning Ryder Cup debut. Asked to sum it up, Spieth answered with one word: “Incredible.”