As the Rolex Series returns to the DP World Tour for the prestigious BMW PGA Championship, Ken Brown writes our Commentator's Column with a Ryder Cup theme.
This is such a special week's golf. To have all the Ryder Cup players here for one week at the same event is almost unheard of really. I understand why, it is good for them to be playing.
Of course, some of the pairings are just strictly groups of Ryder Cup players, which is fantastic for the spectators to come and watch these players playing. It's good for the players themselves, particularly for the rookies, it's a bit tougher for the rookies. They get to know possibly their playing partners. I'm not sure who is going to play with who.
So, it's an exceptional potpourri of great golfers all in one place and it helps to bond the team because the key thing that really changed the tide around in the early days of Europe contesting the Ryder Cup was to make sure that everybody knew everybody, and everyone was working together.
Tony Jacklin probably was the first captain that realised if you could get that, it was worth a point.
The first time I played at the Ryder Cup was 1977. At that stage, it was the last Great Britain and Ireland team before it went to Europe.
I was 20, so not very old. It was my second season on Tour. It was all picked off the order of merit in those days, but there were two picks and Captain Brian Huggett picked Mark James and myself.
It was a big surprise for me and he made a huge difference to my career because suddenly I thought, actually I'm a good enough player to be playing against the very best.
There was none of this week after week talking about it, of course there was talk amongst the players. You were desperate to play.
I learned about making the team on the radio on the way home.
Brian Huggett, who didn't know Mark James and I very well, said, ‘I would like you to come and stay at my house for a couple of days so we can chat about this, that and the other, get to know you a bit better’, which was very nice.
I instantly had a bond with Brian Huggett, which I've had ever since. He's always been extremely kind to me and encouraging.
So that was the start of it. I was very young.
Our equipment was very different but the standard of play was much less than the standard of the players that are playing today.
But nonetheless, you were one of the best 12 players in Great Britain and Ireland. You were playing Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson and Lee Trevino, all those absolute megastars.
These were my heroes, and then suddenly I'm in the same room as them and sitting at the same table.
So, for a young player, it was such a massive thing for my personal satisfaction, but most of all for your ongoing career.
So, the rookies that have got in this time, and particularly if you've got picked, there is a little bit of extra pressure on yourselves, but you've made a signpost early in your career.
Other than winning Majors, for us European players playing in the Ryder Cup team is the next best thing.
Speaking of rookies, the Omega European Masters was the first time I'd seen Ludvig Åberg play.
Ludvig Åberg is one of the most impressive young players I've ever seen without any doubt about it.
I'd seen him hit a few balls on the television and I’d heard all the hype that this was a chap that is possibly a Ryder Cup player.
My reaction was, well, he must be a good player. But when I saw him at Crans-Montana, he was better than I imagined.
His approach play, his golfing ability was breathtakingly good and how he got after the course. He wasn't backing off in any way. He played the aggressive shots when he should have done and played some nice slightly defensive ones without taking extra risks.
So, he's one of the most impressive young players I've ever seen without any doubt about it. I have seen the likes of Tiger Woods coming through, Sir Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle and the really gifted Rory McIlroy’s of the world, and he certainly looks to be potentially one of those.
One player who played his way into an automatic spot was Robert MacIntyre.
I spoke to him at the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry. He was in a bad way, didn't really know where the ball was going.
He said, 'I'm going to go right back to where I started to get my caddy back, my old coach back'.
He has certainly found his feet quite quickly since and did very well at the Omega European Masters – the final qualifying event – just to make the cut.
Things were slipping away from him but he knew if he made the cut there, the odds were that he was going to be an automatic.
But Bob is a really, really good all round player. He's got all the shots. I mean, the shot he played on the 18th at the Genesis Scottish Open was one of the greatest shots I've ever seen.
Playing your way in is the best but he'll feel a bit nervous. He'll feel a little apprehensive because suddenly you've reached the destination.
But now you've got to find your way around the Ryder Cup, which is a tough week.
But he's got a good group of people around him, and he knows he's got a game to stand up against the very best.
These next few weeks are so important for the players. Golf is an interesting game. Your form can change very, very quickly.
But during the build-up from now in, and particularly during the practise rounds, you want to be just striking the ball nicely.
I played five Ryder Cups and probably once or twice I thought I was playing very well.
When you stand on that first tee and you're looking to find some confidence and some form, the chances of it turning up there are very unlikely.
You're trying to find your own form and go into the week with confidence so that you can stand on the first tee feeling I've got every chance of playing a decent round of golf.
The legacy of Seve Ballesteros is still around, and he played such an important role wherever he played, whether it was at Wentworth or around the world.
We've still got his ethos and spirit. We want to win this because we want to prove that Europe has got a better side than what we have always regarded as the best players in the world in America.
One particular Seve memory that sticks with me is from PGA National in 1983. We were playing out of this thick Bermuda rough. We’d never really played out of this thick wiry grass.
Seve said if anyone wanted any help playing shots out of the rough, he’d be behind the ninth green at 10 o'clock.
I think it was three or four of us who went along and he showed us different ways of playing different shots.
Seve liked to win, and he was happy to win as an individual and he wanted to win as a team.
That filtered through the team, it was there the whole time in the matches that I played in when he was in the team. That bonds everybody together.
I've got every confidence that it's going to be Europe who come out on top.
