Cheerleader Levet can disarm his Cup critics

The outrageous behaviour of some sections of the crowd at Brookline near Boston in 1999, the last time the Cup competition was staged on this side of the Atlantic, still casts a shadow over the hosts' victory. There is also bound to be an extra edge to proceedings this week - the first of the practice rounds gets under way tomorrow - as daily sold-out crowds of 38,000 watch Hal Sutton's American team attempt to regain the Cup on home soil

But Levet, who becomes the second Frenchman after Jean Van de Velde in 1999 to make a Cup debut, believes his swashbuckling approach to the game can turn potential enemies into friends. He said: "I love having fun on the golf course. When I'm playing good I'm always enjoying it and I try to share that with the public and my playing partners.

"Let's hope that in the Ryder Cup I am playing good and I can share my enjoyment with the people here."

Levet's piercing blue eyes light up with anticipation born from his experiences at the Belfry two years ago when he covered Europe's remarkable Ryder Cup triumph for French television. He said: "It was an unbelievable atmosphere. I was on the edge of my seat so many times and I just wished I could be out there competing. When you see your friends pulling together and doing really well you want to be mucking in to help the team, and I did the best I could outside of playing.

"I'd go and see the guys on the range before they went out and you could sense the excitement. Then I ran into the team on the Sunday evening when they were on their way from the presentation ceremony to the press centre.

"I shook hands with them all and they were on such a high it just made me want to be part of a great moment like that."

Levet's contribution to the European campaign will be some seriously straight driving, likely to be essential on Oakland Hills' tight fairways. But in the team room he will be the joker in captain Bernhard Langer's 12-man pack.

Jos Vanstiphout, the eminent sports psychologist who has worked with major winners Ernie Els and Retief Goosen as well as Levet, said: "He's a happy camper.

"Thomas is very funny and has an excellent temperament. He is especially suited to the big tournaments. The bigger the tournament gets, the more fun he has."

Much of that has to do with Levet's chats with Vanstiphout. Before meeting the Belgian, Levet likened his own character to a certain eccentric Wimbledon tennis champion. "I was a little bit like Goran Ivanisevic," he said. "Good Thomas, bad Thomas, and sometimes normal Thomas.

"Do you know the funniest thing the South African player Trevor Immelman ever saw? There was a guy that hit a wedge to 10ft, missed the first putt, missed the second, missed the third, missed the fourth and then hit the ball 120 yards back down the slope, hit another wedge and made the putt for a 10.

"That was me." Fast forward to Loch Lomond in July. Levet won the Scottish Open by single putting seven of the last eight holes, and on the odd-hole-out he chipped in with what he later described as "my hallelujah shot".

Hopefully, the galleries this week will find cause only to sing Levet's praises.