Phil Mickelson may have mischievously cast doubt on the once-brotherly relationship enjoyed by Northern Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.
But nobody was left in two minds about the state of his own ‘bromance’ with Ryder Cup team-mate Keegan Bradley.
Mickelson was happy to confirm to the watching world that the duo have been given the nod by their captain to rekindle the partnership that was so successful at Medinah two years ago.
And after they’ve struck their opening drives in tomorrow’s fourballs don’t be surprised to see them skipping down the first fairway hand-in-hand.
“Obviously I’m going to be playing again with Keegan,” Mickelson confirmed. “I don’t think I’m letting go any secrets here.
“If you’ve noticed, we’ve played together these first few rounds and we seem to have a good partnership. He brings out some of my best golf.”
For Mickelson and Bradley it won’t just be a case of picking up in Perthshire where they left off in Chicago. The bonding began all over again long before the love-in in the glen.
“I’ve been texting with Phil a lot before this,” said Bradley. “Kind of pumping each other up. I’ve been getting ready for this event for a long time.
“I like to send him little clips of videos from our matches, and it’s fun to see his texts back.
“Phil is way into strategy and talking through what we need to do. We keep telling each other that there’s no one we’d rather be out there with than each other. We’re both just super, super excited.”
He added: “Man is he playing so good. I’ve got such a good partner. He’s clearly been working back home on the range.
“We just match up well. I let him talk and make the decisions or he thinks I’m letting him.
“In the alternate shot I know Phil can get up-and-down from anywhere. So if I hit a bad shot he can wedge it or chip it and do whatever he does. It doesn’t matter where I hit it.”
Bradley’s exuberance was one of the features of the last Ryder Cup, and had it been an American victory, he would have probably been the poster boy.
The 28-year-old has lost none of his kid in a sweetie shop (sorry candy store) outlook in the intervening 24 months.
“Oh man, I’m so pumped to be out here,” he said. “Scotland has been unbelievable. Gleneagles has been unbelievable. The Ryder Cup is just amazing.
“I challenge all young kids out there to practise as hard as they can so they can get to play on a Ryder Cup team because it really lives up to the hype. It’s awesome.
“I’ve never been over here, which is something I’ll have to adjust to, because I need to be respectful to the fans and everybody. But I’m just going to be myself out there.
“I learned a lot in Medinah. I wore myself out. I was running around, jumping around and playing a lot before. So I’m trying my best to get some rest, not go out there and beat balls and go crazy.
“It’s possible you could play 36 a day for two days in the most mentally-wearing pressure. My biggest thing just now is to conserve.”
No American has claimed that their team is the favourite this week. The “underdog” word has been used a lot, but Mickelson has gone furthest in downplaying expectations by describing them as “heavy underdogs”.
He elaborated: “We’re without Tiger Woods. We’re without Dustin Johnson. We’re without Jason Dufner. And we’re playing a team that has players like McIlroy and Stenson, who have played incredible golf over the years.
“It takes some of the pressure off knowing that we are on away soil. We have not won here in 20 years.
“We’ve got a team that is a heavy underdog, and expectations certainly aren’t high.”
There aren’t any white flags being run up the flagpole at the Gleneagles Hotel just yet though.
“We have a great group of guys and we have got some great leadership,” Mickelson said.
“I am really, really excited about captain Watson and what a great job he’s been doing, not just over the last two years but with the team this week. He’s been just exceptional.”
There have been mixed messagescoming out of the US team room as far as the Medinah factor. On more than one occasion Watson has described “redemption” as a motivating factor for the seven survivors, but the players themselves haven’t picked that ball up and run with it.
“That actually has not been mentioned one time I’ve heard of,” Mickelson said.
“That really has no play as to what goes on this week. We’re focusing on trying to play our best golf and doing something that hasn’t been done in 20-plus years from a US side. And that’s to win on foreign soil.
“It really has nothing to do with trying to redeem what happened two years ago. We are trying to let that go and bring out our best game this week.”