Nick Faldo has brought his own shrink to Kentucky and, as the Europe captain lurched between smooth Faldo, mistrustful Faldo, rude Faldo and a few other versions yesterday, it was possible to see why Kjell Enhager may be busy.

It comes to something when even the team captain requires a psychological prop, but just as the fans look to the team for inspiration and the team look to Faldo, Faldo looks to Enhager to make him the best leader that he can be. Ruffled by his pairings being caught on camera yesterday, Faldo may have headed straight for the psychologist's couch.

It is a measure of Enhager's influence on Faldo that the Englishman has got the Swede to fly over to advise him on how he is handling his captaincy. Enhager is available to the players if they want him, but he has not been formally introduced in the team room and is expected to concentrate purely on the man in charge.

The role might best be compared to that of Bill Beswick in Steve McClaren's England camp, when the psychologist would be the eyes and ears for the head coach as well as offering personal advice and support. McClaren would turn to Beswick over delicate issues such as the right messages to give to players and public. As results dipped, Beswick's influence on McClaren was questioned and even mocked in some quarters, but a large number of players testify that he was a positive influence.

Faldo has spoken effusively about Enhager, but, perhaps mindful that his shrink knows all his personal and professional demons, he barred the psychologist from speaking to The Times yesterday.

Faldo's relationship with Enhager goes back almost a decade. He was introduced to the former golf professional by Fanny Sunesson, his former caddie, after he had missed the cut at the 1999 Open Championship and was at such a low ebb that he was thinking of quitting the game.

Enhager is particularly renowned for his motivational work with successful, driven people who are too hard on themselves, whether in sport or business. Faldo, the perfectionist, would certainly qualify.

The psychologist helped a generation of Swedish women golfers, including Annika Sorenstam, the former women's world No1, to make their mark using a concept called “54 vision”. At their first meeting, the women had said uniformly that a par round of 72 was a reasonable expectation. Enhager challenged them to think of birdies on every hole, hence a score of 54.

“Rockets to the moon, air travel and television are examples of ideas thought to be impossible before they became reality,” he told them. “In sports, there was Bjorn Borg's two-handed backhand, Jan Boklöv's V-style ski jumping and Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile. Someone believed in it, drew up the blueprint and dared to be different.”

Faldo has described Enhager's work as “a road map pointing you in the right direction” and they have become sufficiently close that the Swede was invited to the most recent of the golfer's three weddings.

“One of Kjell's most frequent questions is, ‘What have you done that makes you walk with a straight back?'” Faldo said. In other words, what makes you proud?

Perhaps a more pertinent lesson in Ryder Cup week is the Enhager tale about Gunde Svan, a renowned cross-country skier from Sweden, who went out to fool his opponents before a big race. “During his three practice runs, Svan abandoned the two poles used to propel himself through the snow and employed a new technique, using a single pole,” Faldo said. “This new technique was the talk of the circuit for days in the build-up to the race. What was the champion doing? How long had he been using this? If Svan was doing this, it had to be the way. But when the race came round, he lined up as usual with two ski poles - it had just been a ploy to distract his rivals.”

As the Ryder Cup captains tried to play bluff and double bluff with their pairings yesterday - “I can lie, I don't have to tell the truth,” Paul Azinger said - Faldo's plans appeared to have been revealed by a cameraman. His instincts will have been to blame the media. He left the press tent in a huff over something. Enhager once advised him: “Don't get mad, ask questions.” Time for a refresher last night.