TONY Jacklin today appealed to both sets of players in the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles to help maintain crowd control.

Jacklin knows from personal experience how feelings can run high in the biennial contest between Europe and the United States.

The former Open and US Open champion competed in the event seven times in his heyday as a player.

And he also captained the European side on a record four occasions - including to historic wins at The Belfry in 1985 and Muirfield Village in 1987. During that time, he witnessed first hand how emotions can get the better of both the golfers taking part and the spectators watching behind the ropes.

The 40th staging of the Ryder Cup is set to come to a thrilling climax here in Perthshire in the 12 final singles matches on Sunday.

The English great and two-time Major winner reckons it is down to the likes of Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter to try and ensure calm.

"If a gallery get out of hand one way or another it is in the hands of a player to address that," he said as the tournament got underway this morning.

"As the home side, obviously the European players will have the majority of the support at Gleneagles this week. So they have a big responsibility.

"I did say in the European team room back in the day when I was captain that if anybody saw anything going on it was down to them to quell it.

"The players have to try and nip it in the bud themselves before it starts. They have to say: 'Hang on a minute! This guy I am playing against here is my friend!'

"For sure, he is trying to beat his brains out in the match he is playing. But at the end of the day it is just a game of golf and that is important to remember."

Yet, over the years there have also been public flare-ups involving rival competitors as a consequence of the intensity of the matchplay competition.

Seve Ballesteros, one of the greatest players in the 77-year history of the event, was involved in a number of infamous altercations with opposing players.

The 1991 match at Kiawah Island became known as "The War on the Shore" after American player Corey Pavin donned a "Desert Storm" camouflage cap.

And at the "Battle of Brookline" in 1999 the entire United States team stampeded on the 17th green after Justin Leonard had drained a monster birdie putt. Jose Maria Olazabal, who had been heckled all afternoon, still had a putt to halve the hole and the fallout from the ugly incident rumbled on for months afterwards.

Jacklin, who is at Gleneagles where he is working for Sky Sports, admitted that anything at all can happen in the heat of the battle once play gets underway.

He said: "You can't change a player's individual personality. If you have a fiery temperament then you have a fiery temperament and that is that.

"But these sort of things are blips on the screen compared with all of the goodwill that this tournament generates while it is being played."

Indeed, Jacklin was involved in one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship the game of golf has ever witnessed in the Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale in 1969. His singles match with Jack Nicklaus went right down to the final green - where he was memorably conceded a missable short putt to tie by his gracious rival.

The match, which had been marred by acrimony, finished level at 16-16 and Jacklin and Nicklaus walked off the green with their arms around each other's shoulders.

The 70-year-old is optimistic this week's Ryder Cup will be remembered for the high standard of play - on a course his old adversary designed - and not for any ill feeling.

He said: "It is a wonderful event and I'm looking forward to being here again and watching all three days of it. There is nothing else quite like it in golf or in sport."