Des Smyth laughed heartily at the ironic change in golfing fortunes for the bad boys of 1979. "Maybe it pays to be a rogue," was his good-natured explanation of the remarkable elevation of Mark James and Ken Brown to the roles of captain and assistant captain of the European team at Brookline this week.

Two months after the beaten team had returned from an ill-fated venture to The Greenbrier, West Virginia, James was fined £1,500 and Brown £1,000 for unacceptable behaviour. And there was the further punishment of a one-year suspension from international duty for Brown, who, incidentally, had captured the Irish Open at Portmarnock the previous year.

Brown and James played together in the opening fourballs in which they lost by 3 and 2 to the formidable partnership of Lee Trevino and Fuzzy Zoeller. Then, at lunchtime, James withdrew from the afternoon's foursomes because of a genuine chest injury. That was when Smyth was inflicted with the partner from hell. They were heavily beaten by Hale Irwin and Tom Kite.

As Laddie Lucas recounted in his biography of the team captain John Jacobs: "Brown's behaviour towards his partner (Smyth) was, to say the least, uncivil. The two lost by seven and six and the captain was obliged to offer apologies all round for the Englishman's conduct. It was a humiliating affair." One of the rules of Ryder Cup selection is that the team travels in uniform. But as Michael Williams recounted in The Official History of the Ryder Cup, when the team assembled at Heathrow Airport, "James arrived in anything but a uniform and looked, according to his captain, `terrible'. Jacobs had grounds for sending him home but turned the other cheek, and there were times when he must have regretted it."

Twenty years on, Smyth holds no grudge. "We were all young men learning the ropes; it was my first Ryder Cup and I was happy just to be in the team," he said. "The fact that Ken and Mark chose to misbehave was their own affair. In truth, it didn't really affect me other than when I was actually partnering Ken: I was aware that he really wasn't there."

"Since then," he adds "the only reference to the matter has come from Jacobs, who admitted that he made a mistake with me on two occasions. He said `I didn't play you enough in the first Ryder Cup and I played you too much the second time.' I'd be inclined to agree with that."

And what of James and Brown as the rebels who found favour with the establishment? Typically, Smyth had no wish to be judgmental, but he nevertheless made the point: "I don't think I've ever let myself or my country down on tour. Some guys have done so in the past and I'm not saying I'm happy they're doing as well as they are. But that's life."

If there is an unsavoury link between Smyth's Ryder Cup debut and the present side, his second appearance in 1981 prompts very different feelings. And they may not give any ease to Europeans, fearful of what may happen if the current US team play to their formidable potential.

Walton Heath, 1981, became the stage for a stunning line-up known as Marr's Marvels. Indeed the team which Dave Marr led to a crushing victory by 181/2 to 91/2 is widely acknowledged as the finest in the history of the biennial showpiece.

Smyth concurred, saying: "They put an unbelievable team out against us that year and you might say we had a nerve to be sharing the same fairways with Nicklaus, Watson, Miller, Trevino, Nelson, Floyd and Irwin. Yet, by looking back on it, we can help the average lay-person understand why the present European team are entitled to be optimistic about their prospects."

He explained: "Any professional golfer worth his salt would never write himself off, however strong his opponent. For instance, when I played Nick Faldo in the semi-finals of the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews in 1988, he was one of the best players in the world and the expectation was that he would beat me. But it didn't work out that way.

"That was medal matchplay and the chances of an upset are even greater in straight matchplay, especially over 18 holes. In golfing terms, that's no more than a sprint. You go out there and give it your best shot and even the top players know that the guy who gets off to a good start has a tremendous advantage."

He then reflected on 1981. "I remember Bernard Gallacher and myself facing Irwin and (Raymond) Floyd in foursomes on the opening morning," he said. "By that stage, Irwin had won two US Opens and Floyd was a winner of the Masters and the PGA. I was just an average European Tour player and Bernard had probably gone a little over the top by then.

"On paper we shouldn't have been on the same golf course as those two. Yet as I remember it, I putted particularly well; we produced the goods on the day and beat them by 3 and 2. So, I couldn't help smiling when I read a quote a few days ago, from Ken Brown of all people. He said that we don't play these matches on paper. And he was right.

"In my singles match against Ben Crenshaw, I was beaten 6 and 4 but there was no shame it that. It wasn't a case of me playing poorly on the day. Crenshaw rolled off seven successive threes against me and there was simply no way back. In fact a lasting memory of that match is of him relentlessly holing birdie putts.

"Whatever about reputations, it ultimately comes down to a contest one to one, man to man. And the 12man team we're putting out are all confident, successful players. I don't have any worries about this week's side. OK, the Americans look stronger, but they also looked the stronger team two years ago and two years before that."

Smyth went on: "Perhaps the US haven't the depth of talent of the '81 team but they're probably the best since then. And I while I expect them to win, it's not going to be the slaughter that some people are predicting. These Europeans are all hardened pros and they're not going to pass up the chance of glory." Smyth describes US captain Ben Crenshaw as "a complex man". "It will be interesting to see how he reacts to what I'm certain is going to be enormous pressure," Smyth adds.

"My belief is that coming down the stretch, all the heat is going to be on the Americans. You must remember that they haven't won the Ryder Cup since 1993 and that's not acceptable in a country where winning is seen as a way of life. So, my advice to our players would be to remain confident in their own ability, and be aware that if they're suffering, the opposition may be under even worse pressure."

Smyth, through a foursomes victory with Gallacher and a fourball win with Jose-Maria Canizares, both on the opening day in 1981, remains the only Irish player to have won two points in a particular Ryder Cup series.

"Looking back on my career, it's very important to me that I played in two Ryder Cups," he said. "Playing in 1981 confirmed that the first time wasn't a fluke. And I could sense from the talk during the Lancome (tournament) last weekend just how important it remains to all the players."

He concluded: "If you're a current Ryder Cup player, you know you're among the top 12 players in Europe. That's great for your self-esteem, whatever way the matches turn out."