This time last year, PerUlrik Johansson was making his debut in the USPGA Championship at Valhalla and had no thought of competing in the Smurfit European Open a month later. But having decreed that he should make the trip to The K Club, the golfing fates provided him with the glorious chance of a return to Ryder Cup combat.

One of the most poignant images from the 1995 matches at Oak Hill, was of a disconsolate Johansson being comforted by former college room-mate, Phil Mickelson. They had just completed their singles match in which the American came from three down after eight, to win on the 17th.

Two years on, the 30-year-old Swede is set to retain his place on the European team at Valderrama next month. But in the meantime, there is the more pressing matter of defending his European Open title, starting on Thursday.

Johansson is one of the most successful products of Sweden's meteoric rise through the golfing galaxy. He was only a 17-year-old in 1984, when a Swedish professional, Magnus Persson, compiled four sub-par rounds in a European Tour event for the first time.

Two years later, Ove Sellberg achieved a highly significant breakthrough by winning the Epson Grand Prix at St Pierre. Meanwhile, splendid progress was also being achieved by its women golfers. Then, on a July weekend in 1988, totally out of the blue, Lisolette Neumann led from start to finish when capturing the US Women's (professional) Open at Baltimore CC. Suddenly, Swedish golfers were looking at themselves in an entirely different light. They began to believe they could win outside their native country.

Now, Johansson and his compatriots are challenging strongly for all the top tournaments, both in Europe and the US, as he did when finishing eighth behind Mark Brooks at Valhalla last August. And his ability to cope with the pressure of the big occasion was further illustrated by a 12th place finish on his US Masters debut at Augusta National, last April.

Born in Uppsala on December 6th, 1966, P-U as he is known to his friends, represented his country as an amateur at junior and senior levels, before accepting a golf scholarship to Arizona State University. There, he played in the same team as Mickelson and won the NCAA championship in 1990.

Recalling those college days, Mickelson said: "P-U and I talked a lot about the Ryder Cup and we vowed that if we ever played in it, we'd always remain the best of friends. Mind you, we never thought we would both be clean-up (anchormen) for our squads, especially so early in our careers."

Not surprisingly, Johansson prefers to dwell on more positive memories of Oak Hill than a clash with Mickelson that might have proved ruinous to Europe's victory chances. "Playing in the Ryder Cup was the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life," he said. "I'll never forget it and the memory makes me desperate to experience it again."

As it happened, he gained the distinction at Oak Hill of sharing in an opening foursomes victory with Bernhard Langer, over Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange. Then there was the moment of triumph, courtesy of his colleague Philip Walton, in the second last singles.

"Woosie (Ian Woosnam) came running towards me and jumped into my arms," he recalled with a smile. "That guy is really heavy." Then the Swede became deadly serious. "I have tried really hard to get back on the team. It would be great to play here."

"Here" is the Costa del Sol which, as a resident of Marbella, he calls his other home. "We're going to have a great advantage knowing Valderrama the way we do. Certainly for me, it would be like playing at home."

The first significant step towards Valderrama was achieved through his European Open victory last September. Yet, ironically, his desire to go to The K Club had nothing to do with the Ryder Cup. "I only played because I needed to improve my Order of Merit position so as to get into the Volvo Masters," he explained.

Johansson went on: "I had missed the cut in my previous two tournaments and I began thinking that I should forget about the Volvo Masters and spend the winter trying to sort out my game. But the more I thought about Valderrama, the more I wanted to be there."

He had similar thoughts prior to the USPGA Championship, before fate took a hand. "It was mid-summer in Sweden and it was so nice at home," he recalled. "But I went to America where a top-10 finish got me into the Masters and the USPGA again. And, of course, a month later I won the European Open on what I consider to be a tremendous course."

The Swede went on: "Sometimes golf can be a very tough game to figure out. Maybe I started my 1996 season too early and didn't pace myself well enough." P-U should not be too concerned, however, insofar as it would appear that the fates will always take good care of him.

Three years ago he was at home in Marbella and at odds with his game at the time of the inaugural Czech Open. And the sunny Costa del Sol became all the more attractive when he heard that the course at Marianske Lazne was covered with snow. But for reasons that he can't quite pinpoint, he went. And he won.

After turning professional at the end of the 1990 amateur season, Johansson made an immediate impact as a professional. In June 1991, he achieved his tournament breakthrough by capturing the Belgian Open after a sudden-death play-off against Paul Broadhurst.

Then, in October of that year, he had a second round win over Nick Faldo while helping Sweden to victory in the Alfred Dunhill Cup. And he went on to partner Anders Forsbrand to victory in the World Cup in Rome, producing a crucial final round of 71 for a one-stroke team victory over Wales.

After those exploits, it was small wonder that he should have been chosen for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. Since then, he has enjoyed three further tournament victories, yet he remains frustrated by a failure to get into the top-10 in the Volvo Rankings. "In six years on tour, my best position is 15th," he said. "I need to improve on that."

In pursuit of his golfing goals, his thinking is very much in line with the special training that golfers receive in Sweden. It is aimed at helping them solve problems, both on and off the golf course. "If players learn how to look at something from a different point of view, or solve a problem trying something new, maybe they can use that same philosophy when they play golf," says leading coach, Peter Svallin.

So, the players in his care will head off to gather leaves from 23 different kinds of trees and identify each one. And when he asked them to find the telephone number of the local police, they declined to take the easy way by looking up the telephone book. Instead, they stopped a police car and got it directly from an officer.

Meanwhile, with typical pragmatism, the Swedes subscribe to the philosophy that it is pointless trying to master the physical components of the golf swing - grip, weight transfer and swing plane - if the player lacks the maturity and mental capacity fundamental to a well-balanced game.

Johansson, who has been coached by David Leadbetter and Simon Holmes, is partly a product of the American system. But his thinking and general demeanour remain typically Swedish, particularly the way in which he controls his emotions.

This was especially evident at Hanbury Manor in May when stunning rounds of 64 and 67 on Saturday and Sunday, gave him a two-stroke win over compatriot Dennis Edlund in the English Open. It brought him to third place in the Ryder Cup points table. "The Ryder Cup is now looking good for me," he said afterwards.

Indeed it was. And it has remained that way. Yet his English Open success would have lacked any great significance in a Ryder Cup context, however, had it not been for the Straffan boost the previous September, when a third round of 66 put him in line for victory.

Ironically, he would seem to be no longer in need of qualifying points this week. His main concern will be to achieve the sort of form that will carry him through to a successful campaign at Valderrama next month. . . and a possible return clash with Mickelson.

How important is the Ryder Cup to him? "I think about it every day," was his disarmingly candid reply. "It's the main thing."