IT was a lovely trip down memory lane on Wednesday when it also felt like being back in the thick of the Ryder Cup action.

Covering the Ryder Cup in Newport for the Argus in 2010 remains a massive career highlight and having skipper Paul McGinley and a quartet of his players here was a fine experience with a tinge of nostalgia.

However, when Lee Westwood was talking about losing 27lbs in the past three weeks, I couldn’t help become even more misty-eyed.

It was just over a decade ago that Westwood had the following exchange with Argus reporter Michael Gannon on the old Roman Road course that ensured I would admire him forever (Westwood, not Gannon).

MG: “Have you lost weight Lee?”

LW: “Yes I’ve been on a diet.

MG: “What sort of diet is that, the pasta diet, where you can’t walk pasta buffet, or the seafood diet, when you see food and eat it?”

LW: “Unprintable retort for family newspaper.”

The Argus didn’t interview Lee again for the duration of the tournament, but I am still laughing, ten years on, just thinking about it.

A good journalist never reveals his sources, but evidence that a professional sportsman can never relax around us hacks was apparent on Wednesday for Phillip Price in the pro-am.

Newport’s finest golfer was probably expecting not an ounce of media interest, but alas for Phil, he played with a childhood friend of mine from Winchester and the round was discussed at length on social media. We get everywhere.

They say never meet your heroes, but perhaps it’d be more appropriate to state “never meet your heroes, they will tell you off for wearing a hat indoors.”

That was the fate of Wales’ own Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson, who was recalling his first meeting with American icon Arnold Palmer. Sadly for him, in a clubhouse with a hat on.

“As an adult, one particularly good habit that is not always followed became a pet peeve of mine – the wearing of hats in clubhouses and elsewhere and in the presence of ladies. In fact, this annoyed me enough in years past that I had signs posted at the key entrances at my clubs reminded everybody to remove their hats and caps on their way inside.

“I happen to believe that manners do count – knowing when to speak and what to say, knowing when to remove your hat as a sign of basic courtesy, knowing how to win by following the rules, knowing the importance of when and how to say thank you. Golf resembles life in so many ways. More than any game on earth, golf, depends on simple, timeless principles of courtesy and respect,” Palmer explained recently.

“I just got it off in time after he spotted me and was coming over,” Donaldson told us. “It was pretty scary.”