USA's team takes a soaking while fans' credit cards take a pounding

American dollars took centre stage over rolling putts on a day when one of the biggest sporting events in the world was decimated by rain.

Friday, October 1, has been a day etched on calendars around these parts for a decade and a torrential downpour was not going to deter the 45,000 people who poured in from the valleys.

It was a day when it paid to be prepared for all the elements could throw; waterproof clothing, umbrellas, rain-proof Rory McIlroy wigs.

Somebody, though, forgot to tell the Americans.

They may have the world's leading players in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but their wardrobe designers are not up to scratch.

First there was the garish pullovers with the Ryder Cup trophy emblazoned on them at the start of the week.

Then yesterday, as fans trudged the overflowing walkways in their Spanish and German flags and their star-spangled trousers, Team USA trumped that fashion faux-pas with a cardinal fairway sin.

Their waterproofs were absorbing water not repelling it.

An hour after play was suspended at 9.44am due to a waterlogged course, the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) had to paddle down to the official merchandising store to purchase 24 pairs of waterproof leggings for Woods, Mickelson and their wet-legged team-mates and caddies.

At 209 per suit – of European team design naturally – that set the USA back more than 5,000 on a day when the manufacturers concerned sold more than 600 suits.

The US PGA's American Express card will have taken a hammering or perhaps Jim Furyk offered to foot the bill given the $10m dollar bonus he won at the FedEx Cup Play-offs last week.

There was always a danger of such dreadful weather yesterday and this coming weekend.

Wales in October is hardly Atlanta in September where the Tour Championship was staged last week where Furyk, Luke Donald and Matt Kuchar were handsomely rewarded but the event means the Ryder Cup being moved back a week from its usual end-of-September slot.

Every cloud has a silver lining with the merchandise tent transformed into one gigantic rain shelter where the tills began ringing to the sound of golf fans with nothing to do but spend, spend, spend.

Umbrellas were priceless, and didn't Ryder Cup Europe know it; 50 for the least expensive

logo-emblazoned brolly. Many fans bobbed around the course, ducking and diving under cheaper brand names.

Ironically, one of the fastest selling items was the 25 beach towels, no doubt purchased by eternal optimists who not seen the weather forecast.

Although with sunny intervals expected today, light rain tomorrow and more sunny intervals on Monday, maybe they had.

Or like McIlroy, were they just accepting that the spirit of the Ryder Cup could not be dampened.

"I just have to say our waterproofs are performing very well," tweeted the cheeky Ulsterman.

So much for the Twitter ban.

Europe's youngest player may have been denied the chance to face Woods on the course yesterday but he ensured the competitive nature of golf's ultimate team game was maintained with a jibe about the Americans' attire.

So what if it fractured one or two of the rules laid down by Colin Montgomerie regarding the use of the social networking site.

With the rain not relenting until late afternoon, finally allowing a resumption of play at 5pm, what else were the players supposed to do but dry off, play table tennis or have a snooze?

Dustin Johnson may well have been keeping his eyes open with matchsticks though. Twice this year he has gone to bed on leads in major championships only to come out the next day and implode dramatically. He was as keen as anyone to get back out onto the course.

Time was also filled by players on both sides, the captains and vice-captains, entertaining the crowd which stood defiantly for hours outside the clubhouse in the driving rain, hanging on their every word and gesture.

Autographs were signed by such as Lee Westwood, left,, jokes were shared – we were all in this together.

People had paid good money to be entertained, and the 24 players lucky enough to represent their team at the pinnacle of international golf did their best to not disappoint.

For it was a frustrating opening day until the cheers could ring out again in the early evening haze.

Yesterday's suspension was the first time since Valderrama, Spain, in 1997, that play has been stopped at a Ryder Cup.

But that statistic does nothing to detract from the effort of the greens staff or the majesty of the stunning Celtic Manor resort, which teeters on a hill above the M4.

No venue could have withstood such inclement weather. The purpose-built Twenty Ten course has a state-of-the-art drainage facility which drowned in the face of a deluge that left fairways under water.

The 18th hole, an enticing risk-reward par five that at some point over the next few days will stage the exciting denouement of this magnificent event, resembled a reservoir as swathes of water cascaded down the sloping fairway.

It was a long seven hours splashing through the water, avoiding tidal waves created by passing buggies, sinking in boggy walkways.

It was not how golf was meant to be.

But although staging a Ryder Cup costs millions, the weather cannot be bought.