Ian Woosnam met his Ryder Cup team and told them they were all superstars. No player was taller than another, they were all the same.
At the time, they only had one major winner among them, José María Olazabal, but they were superstars nonetheless.
And they played like that.
They beat their American opponents – Tiger Woods included – by 18½ points to 9½ at the K Club. That was in 2006 and it remains the most resounding triumph in a series of European home successes that now stretches over 30 years.
There was Severiano Ballesteros’ inspired 1997 triumph in his Spanish homeland, Sam Torrance’s tactical masterclass in 2002 and Woosnam’s wonders four years later.
Colin Montgomerie piloted Celtic Manor’s narrow victory in 2010 before Paul McGinley’s stirring leadership at Gleneagles four years later. Thomas Bjorn created the scenario “Moliwood” to give birth to the most recent European success in 2018.
“When you think about it, it’s one of the most incredible records in all of sport,” Montgomerie, who also took part in three of those home victories, told BBC Sport.
The last time Europe lost at home was in 1993 at the Belfry. “I read the other day that Ray Floyd played for the Americans in that game. He’s 81 now. Think of it in those terms,” Montgomerie added.
Woosnam insists he was following a plan laid out by Tony Jacklin when the Englishman took over as continent captain in 1983, with Europe narrowly losing at the PGA National in Florida.
“He made everyone feel comfortable,” Woosnam told me. “You wanted to be in that team room for the rest of your golf career.”
The Welshman highlighted that there has been a significant shift in expectations over the past three decades, from initially limited ambitions. “You wondered if you could win one every once in a while,” Woosnam said.
“But we had confidence in our team. You are always the underdogs and you want to prove people wrong.
“That’s the beautiful thing. We wanted to prove that European golf is really strong and as good as everyone else’s.
“The PGA Tour is the biggest tour in the world, but it’s not just about them. We’re also Europe – and you don’t care!”
Woosnam, 65, is delighted that the team appears to be adopting a similar philosophy to that of him and Jacklin as they prepare to defend their extraordinary home record against Marco Simone this week.
During their recent Rome scouting, Rory McIlroy, Europe’s most decorated player, said all 12 were equal teammates.
“I remember the first sentence I said to the players in 2006, with all the vice-captains present, was ‘you are all superstars to me, there is no individual in this team’ ” recalls Woosnam.
“That’s what Rory is trying to say and it’s coming from Tony Jacklin.”
Europe destroyed Tom Lehman’s American team that week, to the screams of passionate Irish fans at the K Club. “The Americans, in my opinion, were beaten,” triple captain Bernard Gallacher told BBC Sport.
“It even affected Tiger Woods at the K Club. The pressure and excitement was palpable around him, you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.
“Jim Furyk stood up with his complicated swing and hit a drive down the middle. Now Tiger goes, he has his partner in the fairway, and he whipped him right into the lake, he was so nervous ” Gallacher added.
“I don’t blame Tiger, but that nervousness seemed to run through the entire U.S. team.”
Amid such raucous scenes, Woosnam knew his counterpart was shaken as he waited for him to submit his afternoon pairs at the K Club.
“You have an hour to do it, and Tom Lehman was asking for extra time,” said the Welshman.
“That means there are a lot of captains in the room.”
Torrance agreed that the galleries make a huge difference. “The crowd has always been our 13th man,” the Scot told me.
“You hole a 20-footer for birdie and the roar that goes up is quite extraordinary and reverberates throughout the course. All the European players know it was one for us. When you’re in Europe, it’s a wonderful comeback.”
Torrance added: “We started to win when we got a little more strength in depth, but we still had two or three players who were maybe going to have to play five times.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily the case now. So your players are a lot fresher.”
In Italy, Europe will look to create an atmosphere as intimidating as in Paris in 2018. “The crowd is worth at least a point or a point and a half,” Montgomerie insisted.
The 2010 skipper believes it could provide a vital advantage as Europe looks to bounce back from its 19-9 record at Whistling Straits two years ago.
“That’s the problem, we need 14½ points to get it back, they only need 14 to keep it. That extra half point makes it a lot harder.”
But the 60-year-old, who has never been beaten in singles in eight appearances, believes the unique European spirit still burns bright. “We just wanted to beat America,” he said.
“The mighty Americans came at us and we just wanted to beat them. We were united in that effort, we all felt the same way and played for each other.”
As at the Golf National in 2018, the Americans risk being confronted with slow greens, narrowed fairways and thick penal roughs. Course layout has become an increasingly important factor in providing home-field advantage.
“It’s interesting that it’s been 30 years,” Woosnam observed. “Why? Is it because we have laid out the courses a certain way, I’m not sure. I mean the middle of the fairway is the middle of the fairway, right? The green is the green.”
This Ryder Cup will be the first played during the era of the separatist LIV tour which caused the resignations from the European Tour of stalwarts such as Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter.
Westwood has been involved in every European home victory over the past 30 years, starting with his debut at Valderrama in 1997. He was one of Bjorn’s vice-captains in Paris.
“LIV Golf has had a huge influence on the Ryder Cup,” Torrance said. “We lost three extraordinary future captains: Westwood, Garcia and Poulter.”
Torrance, however, wondered if any of those three would have played this time around if they had been eligible. And he said the current U.S. team has been hit harder.
“There is no Dustin Johnson, no (Bryson) Dechambeau, no (Patrick) Reed, no (Phil) Mickelson, no Talor Gooch. Among them, I guarantee you three of them would have been part of the team comfortably. Their team was weakened by LIVgolf.”
American skipper Zach Johnson chose US PGA LIV champion Brooks Koepka because of his performance in majors this year, but didn’t pay attention to the results of the 54-hole US-funded tee tour. ‘Saudi Arabia.
“Leaving out Dustin Johnson and DeChambeau, they could be a lot stronger, there’s no doubt about that,” Woosnam said.
Gallacher agreed. “If I were Luke Donald, I would be very happy,” he said.
“Donald is made to be captain. He will make all the right choices. We are talking about someone very important here.”
Gallacher was the last European captain to lose at home. “I hear about it all the time when we have a home game,” he laughs. “It’s one of those things, it was a close game.”
And he believes that Europe is facing this week the most severe internal test of these three triumphant decades.
“This is the most difficult period of this period because in the last game we lost by 10 points,” he said.
“I hope they win. It’s going to be close, I think, and I hope to have home advantage, because it’s on a course that we know, with strong support, we hope, which will allow us to cross the finish line.”
Woosnam also believes there is a good chance that America’s 30 years of suffering could continue even longer. “I have a feeling it’s going to be very close,” he said.
“At the start of the year you would have thought we wouldn’t be that close, but now I think we have a really good chance.”