So the most popular show in world golf is about to begin, the teams are established and pairings are becoming more obvious for the captains. You have made the team but how do you become a team player? How can you best help the team retain or take home the Ryder Cup?

Probably the best way you can contribute to a golf team is by playing well and winning points and this does not necessarily mean being a team player. But ultimately points are the most valuable way of playing your part.

So if you were Paul McGinley or Tom Watson what is the way of going about raising the little gold cup; making the correct strategic decisions for play or generating the right locker room atmosphere which will create better attitudes for playing good golf and therefore winning matches?

On post-cup analyses in the past there have been reams of explanations as to why one team beat the other. There is a very simple answer to how to win in 18 holes of matchplay; hole plenty of putts. This tends to win you your match; it is a simple answer.

There is no doubt that the start of these unique

weeks can fill the team members with an unusual sense of wellbeing, engulfed by class players all shrouded under the one flag. There will have been the rabble rousing clips of past victories and glories in the team room, there will have been the motivational speeches, the happy clappy kind of school outing atmosphere in the now cloister-phobic team room that the more cynical among us know will not extend to the weekend.

It is vital of course to generate this bonding early, because the team’s week goes on and on and on. With early starts every day and long hours on someone else’s schedule for a change, patience wanes well before Friday. So the second phase of the week kicks in and its serious business; its all about golf, the team ego clashing is over and the thunder of competition begins.

This is where the competitor takes over, the quality that gets the players on the team in the first place. The instinctive competitive nature of players no team compromise can suppress, once on the golf course, they want to win. And the sense of camaraderie or unity is not going to be as binding without that victory to celebrate together.

You don't need any pundit to state the obvious that Europe is, on paper, the stronger team. The Americans are probably missing the two hottest players this autumn season in Billy Horschel and Chris Kirk. The nonchalant swagger of Dustin Johnson will undoubtedly be missed as the American team would have been queuing up to partner him in the fourball and foursomes formats. Despite some of their team being out of form of late, players of this level playing for their flag will be dogged no matter how out of sorts or alien such a team pressure may make them feel.

We played against the rookie Team USA player Jordan Spieth in the Presidents Cup last year who was accompanied by the seasoned Steve Stricker and he was visibly nervous for the first six holes hitting some awful shots for a professional.

But after that he settled back to his normal self and played well for the rest of the event. The rookies can be nervous, but their competitive instincts will kick in to make sure no match is a pushover.

At the risk of reiterating another crucial subtlety in 18 holes of matchplay, which is the Ryder Cup format, it is important to note that anyone or any combination can beat the stronger players with a few timely holed putts. Each player's ranking is almost solely determined by their performance over 72 holes of stroke play. It is easier for a favoured player to become unstuck in the relative 18 hole sprint form of matchplay golf when they are more used to the 72 hole marathon.

There are a handful of players that will most definitely generate some fist pumping team spirit in both locker rooms. The one European veteran who owns his own football team in Spain, Sergio Garcia, is probably the only player who seems to play harder for his partner than he even could for himself. His contribution to his football team, for whom he plays when time permits, gives him a huge advantage in such a week of relative selflessness for the habitually isolated golfer.

Ian Poulter is another spirited Ryder Cup performer and he will be drawing on the team for some much needed form.

Henrik Stenson is another who would make it hard for an isolationist not to become engaged.

In the American camp there is no doubt that when Phil Mickelson makes a point in their team room with his hopeful and experienced eyes flickering around the room luring his younger team-mates into believing in victory, they will be convinced.

Despite the solitary nature of the game of golf and necessity of a huge ego in order to succeed in the brutal world of golf there is always room for a sense of belonging to something bigger and better than the self to give traditional isolationists the marginal boost for the sake of the team.