Philip Reid finds neither Jesper Parnevik nor Lee Westwood believe their problems this season will extend into the Ryder Cup.

Nobody was in the mood to be cruel. How could you be unkind to two players who have served Europe's cause so well in the past? In the two most recent Ryder Cup matches - one a win, at Valderrama; the other a loss, at Brookline - they were rocks, virtually unbreakable, but their form this season would indicate a softer inside these days.

Still, Jesper Parnevik - wild-card pick - and Lee Westwood - qualifier number six, but now languishing in 148th position in the world rankings - have arrived here at The Belfry seeking to use this most tense engagement in the golfing world to pick up the pieces.

It's been a year that has seen both players spiral downwards from superstars to something akin to journeymen. It hasn't been pretty, and, what's more, now that they are here, there is no place to hide.

In the first team meeting the other night, Sam Torrance met with both players. Torrance told them they had to be honest with him about their form when he sat down to do the foursomes and fourballs pairings. He would look at them in their respective pairings in practice, but he would listen too. He wanted to hear what they would say.

If Torrance's scouts in the United States this summer have been working, they would tell him that Parnevik's putting has been askew. If Torrance were to ask Parnevik now how his putting is, the Swede would tell him that "it really feels where I want it to be". You look at Parnevik and ask, "So, you don't have the yips?" The rumour mill in America has been telling us for weeks on end that Parnevik can't hole a short putt, that he has the yips.

Parnevik, however, will tell you differently.

"Well, no, the yips were more of a rumour. I did ask my caddie one time, what it looked like when I putted. He said, it looked like I was electrocuted every time I made contact, which is not a pretty sight. I guess I was aiming too far off target then, and it just felt I had no chance of making it and it got to the stage where I would just have a stab at it," he said.

A few weeks ago in Toronto, Mark O'Meara was watching him on the practice putting green and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He approached Parnevik and, a sure sign that friendship overrides Ryder Cup considerations, he told the Swede where he was going wrong.

"I thought I was aiming left lip, but the way I was aligned I was aiming outside right. I'd had the putter face open. It was just a simple thing but, sometimes, the simple things are the toughest to figure out," said Parnevik.

In yesterday's practice, Parnevik felt that his old style, fearless putting stroke was back.

"I've worked really hard on it. In this event, with all the pressure when you're standing over putts, it is the part of your game you really want to feel good about. You're going to have three, four, five footers all the time . . . and you don't want to have bad thoughts on your mind."

He added: "I don't worry that I haven't been playing well. In the past, coming into Ryder Cups, I've struggled with my game and did very well. That's helped me relax this time because, usually, when you step up on a tee in this event, it really doesn't matter how you've done beforehand. It is more how you can cope with all the crazy stuff that goes with the Ryder Cup. So far, I've been able to do it."

Westwood has not won a singles match in the Ryder Cup in his two previous outings, and his form this season has been poor, but the English player - the only one from the host country in the team - insists he has turned the corner.

"As soon as I start playing well, I can put playing badly out of the way. I've had better form recently, nothing spectacular, but better. I have definitely turned the corner. I am making progress," he insisted. "I'm making a lot of good shots, and not as many destructive ones."

Indeed, Westwood argued that playing a different type of golf would be a help.

"It's team golf," he said. "It's nice to play against somebody else who is there in front of you, not somebody who is 11-under-par on the back nine playing somewhere else. You're focused on beating the other guy. You don't do anything too much different. You still play your own game, try to get it on the fairway, knock it close, and make a few putts. If you're beating him, you feed off the feeling you are getting in front. If you're losing, you've got to dig deep and show a bit of guts to try to get back at him."

Sounds like what the Ryder Cup is all about, really.

One thing is clear, however. Neither Parnevik nor Westwood believe their problems this season will extend into the Ryder Cup. Whether Torrance gives them the chance to prove it, though, remains another thing. But they're here. They're experience Ryder Cup players. And they're ready to answer the call.

"Well, no, the yips were more of a rumour. I did ask my caddie one time, what it looked like when I putted. He said, it looked like I was electrocuted every time I made contact, which is not a pretty sight. I guess I was aiming too far off target then, and it just felt I had no chance of making it and it got to the stage where I would just have a stab at it."

- Jesper Parnevik on his putting woes