At the Ryder Cup, golf stars discover the joy of brotherhood

Long ago in a hotel in Brunei, Jose Maria Olazabal told me about an inspirational video. It was December 2012, three months since he helmed the Miracle at Medinah, the last time Europe won the Ryder Cup in the United States.

- Rohit Brijnath Assistant Sports Editor

Three months since he, Europe's captain, wept after victory and looked heavenwards and said “this one’s for him”.

Everyone knew who “him” was, the hero lost to the world in 2011 yet unforgettable. Seve Ballesteros wasn't just Olazabal’s pal and partner with whom he won a record 12 points in 15 matches, but the fist-brandishing, fiery lifeblood of the Cup.

The video Olazabal organised in 2012 had clips from the movie Gladiator and footage of Olympic athletes, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and the European players themselves, all of this just to create the rousing ingredient you can’t win a Cup without.

Brotherhood.

All Cup week this will be the recurring theme. Unity. Solidarity. Fellowship. Usually we'd shrug at this, for these are the expected virtues of team sport. Yet this is different, it’s actually insulated individuals who travel by private jet and eat with their entourages and lead self-centred lives, yet they must now put aside self-interest for fraternity.

And, boy, do they love it.

Individual athletes relish the solitary examination of sport, where success is written by only their hand. Yet there’s always a little envy about the other tribe, those team people on TV, with their bantering, tearful, raging connectedness.