Nick Faldo has tipped Sergio Garcia to once again be Europe's star man when the Ryder Cup gets under way on Friday.

The 28-year-old Spaniard has won eight and a half points out of a possible 10 in his last two Ryder Cup appearances and has not missed a series since making his debut in 1999, recording a 75 per cent win rate in four matches.

Although he has yet to win a major and suffered another near miss at last month's USPGA Championship, Garcia won the Players Championship in impressive style this year and Faldo expects him once again to star in the Ryder Cup.

"He brings a lot of passion to the team," Faldo told Sky Sports News. "When you see Sergio you see Seve. They both love this event. He gets fired up. He gets fired up on the golf course, he is great off the golf course, so he is a key member of the team.

Faldo pointed to a change in Garcia's attitude as the key to his improvement this year.

"Sergio has really changed this year," he added. "He has matured at the speed of light. The way he now can deal with things, he has so much more patience. We've seen it, he is a different guy."

The build-up to the match began in earnest on Tuesday with the opening day of practice at Valhalla, and Faldo is relishing the experience of captaining the team.

"It's a wonderful feeling for me," he said. "I have had the official captaincy for two years. It was kind of a surreal day yesterday after so much thinking about it. Now we are off and running. It is a great feeling. I am loving every minute of it.

"I am loving it. I love being big mother hen to this lot. It is really great. They are a special bunch. Everybody is into it. As Europe have always proved, the team spirit is instantly there. I am loving it. I am just going to be on hyper-drive until I collapse!"

Kentucky has taken a battering from storms in the past week but Faldo is happy with the state of the Valhalla course. "The course is in great condition," he added.

"They have had to work doubly hard with the storm going through it but the golf course is like a normal Tuesday golf course and with three days to go we kind of predict it is going to dry up and firm up and speed up, so the guys are happy out there."

As for the opposition, Faldo said: "Paul's whole team is very talented, a very skilful team. I have watched them play, but this is now a different event, as we know. This is matchplay, it is a very special, different animal."

To see video analysis of Sergio Garcia's swing click here

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