As undignified as Thomas Bjorn's hissy fit was, it tells you everything you need to know about European golf and the Ryder Cup. Bjorn is only the latest in a long line of former players and captains, discarded stars and even team members who have voiced their opinion publicly and unreservedly at unfortunate times. They cannot help themselves. They care too much.

It rather goes against the Americans' perceived view of Europe's fabled team spirit that they are all great pals and everything is lovey-dovey.

It may be far from the case, but overwhelming everything else is a shared passion for the event and the team ethic.

This was formed by the inspiration of Tony Jacklin's offcourse captaincy and Seve Ballesteros's on-course leadership and has been handed down the generations. And it is in this context that Woosnam claims Bjorn's outburst can benefit the team.

"This will make us stronger, " he said at the K Club last week. "It will make Lee more determined and Darren more determined."

While the whiff of an old boys act forms a facade, the selection of Clarke and Westwood conforms to classic wild card customs.

One of the picks went to a player who would have qualified but for outside issues preventing him playing, the other to someone with a superb record. Clarke joined a practice session at the K Club last week with Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey and Jose Maria Olazabal and will play at the Madrid Open this week.

No one can quite know what to expect from Clarke but having picked him, Woosnam does not have to play him all five times. Two outings in the fourballs with Westwood may be his lot before the singles but his presence will surely inspire teammates and gallery alike.

Two points helped secure Westwood's selection. He has won twice at the K Club, ancient history according to Bjorn but one of those important intangibles that Jacklin looked for in making his extra selections. Westwood also has the eighth best Ryder Cup record of any European.

Over four matches, Westwood has a 56 percent rating.

Take out two players from a former era in Abe Mitchell and Percy Alliss, then only Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer, plus teammates Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomerie and Olazabal are ahead of him.

He has formed fine partnerships with both Clarke and Garcia and in the last match both Westwood and the young Spaniard topscored with four-and-a-half points each. But his threepoint haul from the 2002 match at the Belfry may be more significant. That year he was not playing well and the week before he had not even qualified for the AmEx World Championship in Kilkenny where virtually all the other Ryder Cup players were competing.

Instead, Westwood went off to the Belfry for a practice round with Sam Torrance, Europe's captain. At one point as they shared a buggy, Torrance pointed out to Westwood the old faithful of form being temporary and class being permanent.

"I would have to say that this European team is one of the strongest that I have seen, " says Westwood. "It has a good mix of experience and rookies and people who have played at the K Club before.

We have confidence within the team and have as good a chance as any to win the Ryder Cup."