CADDIE'S ROLE:We all left Thailand with a camaraderie and team spirit that is so often non-existent in the traditionally selfish game of golf, writes COLIN BYRNE

‘LONG LIVE the King’ was written across the top of our team bags for the fourth Royal Trophy held in Bangkok last week. The reference co-incidentally was poignant as it would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday last week. The reference was, of course, for the King of Thailand, who, we were reminded frequently, endorsed the tournament and donated the silver trophy to the event.

I suppose the Ryder Cup originally started in a similar low key fashion and more recently was transformed into the mega spectacle it is today.

There is nothing like a stiff bit of competition to give an event some impetus. To my surprise, last week was not simply a little start of year junket. It was a hard-fought battle where pride most definitely was a stake; it will not take long before it becomes an event etched in people’s consciousness. I believe winners and losers received the same prize money. The participants were driven by the will to win rather than the lure of the loot.

Given the relative dearth of major golfing spectacles in the region there was a huge amount of governmental interest in the Royal Trophy. It was enough to close down a couple of lanes of the Bhumibol Bridge last Tuesday afternoon in order to stage the opening event of the week: three shots each by the opposing captains, Joe Ozaki for the Asian team with Liang Wen-Chong and Gaganjeet Bhullar and Colin Montgomerie leading the Europeans alongside Pablo Martin and Robert Karlsson.

In a city already clogged with traffic it was no minor feat to disrupt the traffic flow in order to kick start the fourth Royal Trophy.

There was a stage set up in the middle of the bridge with a range mat to hit off. About 60 metres below and a 100 metres out on the river was a barge, covered in sod with a pin stuck in the middle of it. The idea was whoever hit it closest to the pin out of three shots got to make the first pick of the foursomes draw for the first round. Joe Ozaki hit it to 17 feet and no one could better him.

I have been to similar events in the past when you have only seen your team members on the course and nowhere else. This was not captain Montgomerie’s style of leadership. He assembled us all for a team dinner on the Tuesday night in the Thai restaurant in the hotel we were staying at; all eight players and their caddies attended.

Given we spend enough time with our players during a full day on the course it is not normal we would dine with our bosses at night. We all assumed it was a one-off team building exercise by the captain.

He obviously found it so effective we ended up dining together for the rest of the week. We had taken over a private room in the restaurant and it was not a question by the weekend of if, but when.

I remember being part of a team Monty lead in the Seve Trophy in the past and had been surprised by his inclusive and democratic fashion of leadership. He wanted to know what everyone thought and generated an atmosphere whereby both players and caddies felt comfortable to air their views.

We were beckoned to our leader’s room on Thursday for the pre-match speech. It wasn’t a speech, more of a motivational chat with tales of key decisions being made in past Ryder Cup matches and pivotal moments in Monty’s personal career that led to the desired outcome of events; winning. Monty’s attitude was the Asians were up for it and we did not travel through so many time zones to lose.

The Ryder Cup in September was very much on Colin’s mind and what an excellent opportunity to have a test run in Bangkok last week with what he described to his team as seven Ryder Cup candidates. This, of course, put an entirely different perspective on things for anyone who had previously thought we were not here to win.

The detail Monty has already gone into to ensure there are no irritations or detrimental surprises in Celtic Manor, is extensive. For a man who mightn’t give you the impression of being so fastidious, last Thursday in room 3302 at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit would have changed your mind. Monty mentioned his sports psychologist who had worked with Olympic athletes in the past banned them from using elevators on the day of Olympic competition. He maintained they had not worked tirelessly for four years to get stuck in a lift on the day of competition.

Monty was not suggesting his players use the stairs from the 33rd floor but he was suggesting everyone gave themselves plenty of time to get to the course.

During the practice round Colin played with the “new boys”, my man Alex Noren and the Spaniard Martin. They had no real contact with Monty before this and were curious how he would be. He was relaxed, confident and informative, as you would expect an elder statesman to be.

The newcomers enjoyed picking his golfing brain and asking him about his golfing feats. When Alex asked Monty about his statistics when (there was an awkward pause until Colin smiled broadly and continued “when I was a good player, you mean?”). He replied that he lead the greens in regulation stat for seven of his eight years as order of merit leader. But Peter O’Malley, the arrow-straight Australian, used to beat him an odd time in the fairways hit statistics.

The European team was unanimous in their enjoyment of our week together in south east Asia. The Royal Trophy sponsors got a thrilling spectacle with an eventual win by one point for Europe with a trophy-clinching final putt from our stalwart Henrik Stenson on the final green.

Monty got to exercise his skills as a democratic leader, strategist and, of course, still reliable point earner as a player. We all left Thailand on Sunday night with a sense of camaraderie and team spirit that is so often non-existent in the traditionally selfish game of golf.