THE world’s media will pour into Newport today, with more than 2,000 journalists arriving for the start of the Ryder Cup this week.

JESSICA BEST talks to reporters from around the globe about what they’re expecting from the tournament’s host city.

FROM tomorrow morning, the eyes of the world will be on Newport.

As the Ryder Cup 2010 gets under way at the Celtic Manor Resort at the end of the week, images of the world’s biggest golf tournament will be beamed into 750 million homes in 140 countries, as well as the thousands of column inches the contest will take up in the world’s sports pages.

Some 2,000 journalists will be covering the Ryder Cup 2010 from the Celtic Manor over the next six days.

Around 1,000 reporters will operate from the onsite media centre where regular press conferences will be given by the two team captains and their players.

A further 1,000 presenters, directors, producers, editors, sound engineers and camera crew will work from a separate TV compound.

The majority of foreign journalists are from the United States, but there will also be media from European countries such as Spain, Italy, Sweden and Ukraine.

South America will be represented by Argentina, and there will also be reporters from India, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India and Singapore.

So what do foreign journalists know about Newport? And what are they expecting from the Ryder Cup 2010?

Journalist Guus Van Holland will arrive in Newport on Wednesday from the Netherlands to cover the Ryder Cup for Dutch newspaper NRS Handelsblad.

Mr Van Holland has been to Wales before, but said he knows nothing about the city of Newport.

“I’ve never heard of it,” he said. “I hope to see a typical Welsh landscape. I saw pictures on the web sites of the tournament and the Ryder Cup and I am longing to go and see it myself.”

He said he hoped to see some 'sensational golf with a lot of atmosphere and sunshine'.

Art Spander will arrive from San Francisco today to report on the tournament for the San Francisco Examiner.

Mr Spander, a sports journalist of 50 years, said he didn’t know much about Newport before it was announced as the Ryder Cup’s host city, but had previously played golf at Porthcawl, Aberdovey, and Harlech.

Asked what three things he knew about Newport, he said: “I know it’s not far from Cardiff, that the road signs are both in unpronounceable Celtic and English, and it’s the first major city west of the Severn.”

John Paul Newport is a golf columnist with the Wall Street Journal. He’s flying in from New York today and will spend a week in Gwent.

He said: “I know a bit about Wales - Dylan Thomas, Catherine Zeta-Jones. The Welsh language is still actively spoken and even growing I believe, but I don't know much about Newport itself. I’m eager to learn.”

Mr Newport said he had heard “nothing but great things” about the Celtic Manor and even interviewed Sir Terry Matthews two years ago when the Ryder Cup was held in Valhalla, Kentucky.

All this meant he had high expectations for the next seven days.

“I’m expecting to see a great golf course designed for the Ryder Cup competition and to experience some great hospitality.

“I hope and expect the matches to be close, and I know the crowds will be wildly enthusiastic. It’s the most exciting week in golf.”