Caddie's Role: A week to go to the Ryder Cup and the heat is on the captains of Europe and America to provide the atmosphere to create the winning way for their respective teams.

The preamble to next week's circus has been a long, laborious page of words with much time and space devoted to the worth of both Tom Lehman and Ian Woosnam.

Being in a position of responsibility for others is relatively uncharted territory for most golfers. Their careers have been spent caring for number one; such is the nature of professional golf.

The selection process for choosing a Ryder Cup captain cannot really account for the prospective captains' ability to lead and motivate; neither of them has ever been in that role as a golfer.

They say playing golf is a good way to acquire a grounding for life. There is a strict application of the rules and a strong ethos of etiquette which should guide participants through their playing years. As major winners and multiple tournament victors, both Lehman and Woosnam are proven performers and can obviously handle the pressure of making tough personal decisions on the golf course.

They have hit numerous shots under intense competition and holed slippery putts to keep their scores together. So, what can they do when it comes to making the right pressure decisions for their 12 team members?

To date it would seem that Lehman has taken his new role very seriously and is determined to eradicate what appears to have been the curse of recent US Ryder Cup teams: the lack of unity and sense of belonging to a team; the philosophy of a greater cause other than just "me".

Tom has consulted many team sport coaches and asked for advice about team building. He has had constant communication with his potential players since the team started to take a permanent shape earlier this year. There is no doubt it is a difficult challenge for a self-sufficient golfer to think outside the golfing box and consider the complications of dealing with a large group of even larger egos - egos unused to compromising for anyone other than themselves.

We played a practice round recently with the last European captain, the orderly and extremely determined Bernhard Langer. He was telling me he will have no involvement with this year's event; he will merely be a television spectator. He admitted in a surprised way that Lehman had talked to him on numerous occasions about what he had done as captain in Detroit. He was equally amazed that Woosnam had no contact with him at all concerning his captaincy.

Langer and Woosnam were at their golfing peaks at the same time. They have played a lot together over the past couple of decades and have been on many Ryder Cup teams together. A few words of advice from such a well prepared and successful leader as Langer would not have done any harm to the Welshman's preparation.

I am sure Ian has consulted some of Europe's recent successful captains about next week's mission. Tony Jacklin, Sam Torrance, Bernard Gallacher and Seve would all be accessible to this year's captain and would have been happy to impart some of their ideas to Ian.

For Europeans there is a worrying statement of intent from the American team. They are going to be a team such as the US have never been before. This I believe is down to their leader. Lehman has recognised the disparity in the past and decided to harness his players into the concept of team mentality early.

The visit of the US team to The K Club a couple of weeks ago was a shot across the bows of the European flagship. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson do not disturb their precise schedules and join their Ryder Cup team-mates unless they are serious about their presence as key members of the team.

What they did when they got to Straffan was irrelevant; the fact is they gave their moral support to Tom and their colleagues.

The Europeans have taken their camaraderie and sense of team belonging for granted ever since the other Europeans were called into what was traditionally the Britain and Ireland team. It has taken the Americans a long time to recognise their lack of consensus.

What happened when the European team was announced a couple of weeks ago was a public-relations disaster. There are always going to be players who felt they had done enough to warrant one of the two wild-card picks and would struggle when learning they had been omitted.

It is a basic captain's duty to talk to those who were realistically in the running and explain his reasoning and generally keep them informed.

For the picks, and more importantly for those left out, it would be fairly basic etiquette to consult them before the team became public knowledge. To fail to do so was a diplomatic faux-pas.

The Europeans' little get-together last Thursday in Kildare was lacklustre given that the entire team was not there, but at least it was a positive effort. Maybe the diplomatic error happened at the perfect time for Europe, in case there was any erroneous assumption of unity.

My own experience of team dealings through the Presidents Cup have shown me the importance of a good captain's influence on performance. Gary Player was the captain and Ian Baker-Finch was the vice-captain last year in Washington.

Gary was more a figurehead and Ian was the effective captain. Baker-Finch came to me weeks before the event to exchange phone numbers in case there was anything I needed to talk to him about. The pairing discussions in the team room were open and democratic; everyone's opinion was taken into account. Gary Player's little speeches before play were inspirational.

The players and caddies on both teams in this year's Ryder Cup are part of something special and I am sure both leaders will treat each and every one of their players with the respect and attention he deserves for the benefit of the team.