Team spirit a vital ingredient in recipe for success

IT was a long time coming but at last the 34th Ryder Cup is here.

It goes without saying that the foursomes and fourballs are going to be crucial and it's important that we get off to a good start. If my foursomes partner doesn't play well, it's just as much my fault for not helping him to play well.

Maybe I can't play the shots for him although in foursomes, you can nearly do it. It is important to put him in the right frame of mind and help him play the right way. You can just as easily make him play badly, by not playing to his strengths or not helping him to relax. There are a million ways of putting your partner off in foursomes. And that's the way with the whole team. That's why you need leaders, comedians, all sorts of guys, in the team.

The captain is especially important. A good captain will get the best out of his players. Every player on our team has his strengths.

If Sam matches up the team right, we'll be much stronger as a team than we are as individuals. I don't see why we are outsiders when the last ten matches were so close.

We were rank outsiders the last time and we should have won. People look at individuals but it's a team thing and if there are any perceived gaps, we can bridge them by being a good team. The great thing about the Ryder Cup is that you know the other guy is nervous too. It's an even battle.

Some will handle it better than others. It's great to know that Tiger is going to be nervous when he stands on the first tee. I have been surprised that the nerves stay with me right through the event. It peaks at the start and at the end. It levels off in the middle but there are more nerves involved in the Ryder Cup than in any other golf event.

It's a fact of life. If you're feeling nervous, you are in a position you wanted to be in at the start of the week. If you're not, you're down in 30th place and it doesn't seem to matter any more. If it means a lot to a person, he is going to be nervous. It's great, it helps to get you focused and buzzing.

Brookline was an experience I can't say I had fun. But the more I distance myself from the Ryder Cup, the more I want to play in the next one. It's like going on a roller coaster you don't exactly enjoy it at the time but you do afterwards.

A lot of the rookies have had to spend a year justifying their position every time they play they are being questioned on their score and their Ryder Cup form. They have spent a year doing that and it's terrible. What difference does it make what they score six months before the Ryder Cup? They deserve to be in the team because they qualified. You can never predict the 12 best players on a given day as form changes from week to week.

How do you explain a player winning one week and missing the cut the next? These guys qualified more than a year ago they were the most consistent players and they have spent a year that was detrimental to their game trying to prove they were worth their place. It went on for 20 months for Pierre Fulke but it won't get to him because he is very strong.

It wouldn't affect him but the form of some of the other guys has suffered because they have been trying too hard. I think it has added to Paul McGinley's difficulties. Maybe he played a lot during the winter and didn't come out fresh, putting a bit of pressure on himself. I'm sure if the Ryder Cup wasn't delayed a year that he may have had a better season.

There are certain players and partnerships you must rate because of what they have achieved in the past but you can't put out a guy who isn't playing well in foursomes, like José Maria Olazabal the last time.

Remember, there are four other guys itching to get out there. Everybody wants to play Tiger. It's the match you can't lose as all the pressure is on him. It has been suggested that he wanted to win last week more than this week but that changed as soon as he got to The Belfry. He really wants to win now.

We're all individuals, we're not going to sacrifice a whole year's golf for one week, and that's what happens to some guys. The Ryder Cup is big you try to peak for that week but you turn up every other week trying to play your best. I'm playing for my country and Europe.

I'm also playing for 11 other guys and the captain and vice-captains. It's a big responsibility but I think we're ready.