Tiger Woods was furious as wardrobe malfunction forced Team USA to spend £4,000 in Ryder Cup merchandise tent
It is entirely plausible Team USA lost the 2010 Ryder Cup because the captain's wife wanted names stitched into jackets.
Later this month, Zach Johnson's star-studded squad head to Europe to try and win the famous event on foreign soil for the first time in 30 years.
But those three decades have been filled with comical levels of disaster for the Americans on the continent.
Down the years, Team Europe have exposed their opponents by taking care of every excruciating detail at home.
Only recently have Team USA followed the Europeans by going beyond the golf itself to focus on tactics and harmony in the locker room.
And there is no better example than Celtic Manor in 2010.
Captain Corey Pavin decided that his wife, Lisa, would be heavily involved in the team's preparations.
But nobody could have anticipated the sheer force of her impact on the event.
It began when Corey was involved in a heated row with Golf Channel reporter Jim Gray in the media centre.
Gray published quotes from the Team USA captain in which he guaranteed Tiger Woods a place on the team, despite questionable form and a recent public scandal.
Gray was branded a 'liar' and onlookers recall an animated Mrs Pavin sticking up for her husband, calling the journalist a 'wuss'.
She became a bona fide golf celebrity and even posed on the cover of Avid Golfer magazine, wearing just a USA flag.
Her most important and fateful role, however, was designing the Team USA uniforms.
Given the Ryder Cup was taking place in Wales in October, effective waterproof gear was likely to prove essential.
True to form, the players were greeted with a total downpour on the opening day.
Pavin sent the Americans out in jackets that made them look like a college basketball team, with names stitched into the back.
Woods was reportedly left fuming that he was unable to use his own Nike waterproof gear.
To add insult to injury, the American superstar was forced to find a generic jacket without 'Woods' on the back after his specific one was deemed too big.
So you can imagine his fury when the Sun Mountain jackets did not even work.
"We were disappointed with the performance of them and we just fixed it," captain Pavin said.
"They were not doing what we wanted them to do, so we went out and bought some more waterproofs."
That does not tell the whole story.
In a truly embarrassing moment, Team USA queued up in the fan merchandise tent and spent more than £4,000 on rain gear.
The cherry on top? They used Team Europe supplier ProQuip.
Sun Mountain defended itself in a statement and privately suggested the stitching added to the jackets by Lisa Pavin caused the leakage.
Woods, playing alongside Steve Stricker against Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, ultimately decided against wearing his jacket despite the torrential weather.
But the team's bags also failed to keep the water out, meaning towels and club grips were soaked.
Rory McIlroy, who had already irked Woods by suggesting the whole European team wanted to play him, tweeted: "Just have to say our waterproofs are performing very well!"
Much to the Americans' relief, play was suspended before 10am - and they even managed to win the session 2½ to 1½ when it was completed on Saturday.
Europe came back to win the event 14½ to 13½, marking the closest Ryder Cup on this side of the Atlantic in modern memory.
Given how close this Ryder Cup ended up being, heads were cast back to that rainy opening morning, as neither of the first two USA pairings managed to win a point.
Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson were beaten 3 and 2, while Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar could only secure a half.
In hindsight, one shot in that second match would have been enough to swing the Ryder Cup.
And they hit some shots while absolutely drenched.
It is why 2010 at Celtic Manor should forever be known as the Lisa Pavin Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup Betting
USA - 10/11
Europe - 6/5
Tie - 12/1
*Odds correct as of 10:30 25/9/2023
