Vanstiphout, brain doctor to the best

Modern professionals routinely drive the ball 300 yards and expect to hole every putt under 15 feet. Technology, fitness, nutrition and money (bucketloads of it) have made them unrecognisable from their predecessors. But without one vital ingredient, the whole package is meaningless.

You cannot win without the ability to concentrate, whether you're battling down the stretch in The Open at Muirfield or attempting to win the Muswell Hill monthly medal. The most important distance in golf has always been the six inches between the ears.

Jos Vanstiphout is a 51-year-old Belgian with a handicap of 11. But as a mental coach in this most cerebral of sports, he plays off plus-11. Quite simply, he is the Tiger Woods of his profession.

A qualified psychologist who specialises in personal dynamics, he came to prominence a year ago when Retief Goosen handed him much of the credit for his US Open win at Southern Hills. It might be remembered that Goosen had the tournament in the bag and then, inexplicably, three- putted from 12 feet on the 72nd green to necessitate an 18-hole play-off with the American Mark Brooks.

It seemed that Vanstiph-out's efforts with Goosen had been in vain, that the South African had succumbed to pressure. But Goosen went out the next day, unperturbed by his error, and played Brooks off the course.

Suddenly Vanstiphout, who actually had worked unobtrusively on the European Tour for five years, was an overnight success. His conversation with Goosen after the calamitous three-putt went as follows. "What positive conclusions can you draw from what happened today?"

"Now I know I can beat these guys," was the reply. At that point, the guru knew his job was done and nothing more need be said.

He is in the limelight again having "trained" the last two winners on Tour – Denmark's Soren Hansen in the Irish Open (following a four-man play-off) and Michael Campbell at the European Open.

However, the latter suffered an even more glaring loss of concentration than Goosen before claiming his one-shot victory last weekend at the K Club. Five shots clear with four holes to play, the New Zealander started to compose his winner's speech and bogeyed the lot. In the end, he was let off the hook by Padraig Harrington, ironically a former client of Van-stiphout. "It was a classic lesson for Campbell and he admitted he'd made a mental error," said Vanstiphout.

Apart from Goosen and Campbell, Vanstiphout's clients include Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia, but it is the veteran Englishman Barry Lane that he regards as perhaps his outstanding success story. "When Barry came to me a year ago, he'd won £1,800. Since then, he's won more than £600,000 and is now a very happy man."

There is a tinge of regret in Vanstiphout's voice about his recent split with another high-profile client, Darren Clarke, "but he needed more of my attention than I could give him".

The service Vanstiphout supplies – he has no written contracts and agrees everything on a handshake – is far from superficial. He spends up to 14 hours a day on the practice ground at tournaments.

"I'm the first one out there in the morning and the last to leave at night," he said. "But the quality of my work comes from the quality of the players. They're like thoroughbred racehorses who need to be fed the right food. I give my clients the right mental food and this season they've won nine out of 17 events on Tour.

"I started by advising managers and sales people. About 10 years ago, I took up golf and I was amazed to find hardly any mental coaching within the game. The mental side is 80 per cent of the reason why one golfer wins and another loses. A round of golf takes up to five hours, yet the time spent in contact with the ball is no more than four minutes. The rest is spent thinking.

"I get to know my clients well – we're like a family, travelling and eating together. It's my job to take away the distractions and instil discipline. After all, it's not just a game of golf, it's big business."

Vanstiphout is a beneficiary of this big business, though he is reticent about how much he earns for his labours apart from saying: "I agree a basic fee with each player and there's usually a prize-money percentage as well."

There is no shortage of players seeking his help. "There are 40 players on Tour who I know I can improve, but I cannot work any more hours."

There is one player, though, he doesn't expect to hear from. "Mr Woods doesn't need my help," he said. "I know he does a lot of mental training and he's pretty good in that department. But you never know."