This week, the golfing world will descend upon Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, for the 41st playing of the Ryder Cup. The media will keep busy in deep analysis on who will win, the role of the captain’s picks and other speculation. What’s rarely discussed, however, are the people who work behind the scenes to get the world’s best golfers firing on all cylinders to represent their countries: the swing coaches.

In the Ryder Cup’s storied past, the names of those who roamed the ranges read like a who’s who of golf tutelage: Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter, Pete Cowen and Phil Rodgers, to name a few. If you tune into the coverage this week, you might see a new “kid” on the block roaming the range, but the truth is he’s been on the scene for almost 10 years. And this upcoming Ryder Cup is not his first go around.

Matt Killen is on his second tour of duty, and the previous time he was at the Ryder Cup the U.S. won. Killen’s current stable includes young guns Justin Thomas, Patrick Rodgers, Bud Cauley and 2016 Ryder Cup captain’s pick J.B. Holmes, who Killen has worked with for more than 10 years. That’s almost as long as the void in U.S. victories in the Ryder Cup (sorry to bring that up). The interesting part is Killen, whose home base is The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, turned 31 years old on Monday (let the math settle in). Yes, he’s been working with some of the best players in the world since before he could legally drink a beer.

During the 2008 Ryder Cup — a victorious endeavor for the U.S. — Killen was a busy man, as he had three different players in the event: fellow Kentucky natives J.B. Holmes and Kenny Perry, as well as Chad Campbell. Killen was also working with team captain Paul Azinger at the time — and Killen was only 22 years old! Most teachers and swing coaches don’t begin working with Tour players until well into their 30s, and many times much later. How does this happen, and what makes Killen the guy (read: kid) who Tour players trust with their careers?

On my way home from Toronto during the Canadian Open, I ran into Killen, whose story is every bit as compelling as the players he coaches. It was a random encounter at the Toronto airport, but I was compelled to introduce myself being hugely interested in his story. He’s a soft-spoken, Southern native with an overwhelming sense of confidence when he discusses golf mechanics. After a bit of small talk we dug into his swing philosophies. I found myself dumbfounded with the ease in which he was able to explain body mechanics and club face dynamics. That’s what the great teachers seemingly all have in common; their knowledge of the swing is ridiculously rich, but their ability to deliver the message simply and tailor it to the learning styles of each student is what breeds success.

Although the attention on our golfing prodigies always seems to focus on the players, being a swing coach to those players at such a young age is far more unlikely than winning on the PGA Tour. Young teachers are at a disadvantage based on experience and time. So how can a strong, trusting relationship be built with someone so young? After all, information in regards to the golf swing, especially at that level, always just seems a bit more reliable coming from the mouth of say a 40- or 50-year-old guy who has made the rounds in golf academies, and/or was a successful player in his own right.

Killen was just a skinny teenager who had the courage to speak up when his best friend’s father, Kenny Perry, was looking for something or someone to light the fire. With the burning passion of youth, Matt was the kid for the job. Most teenagers would have shied away from an intimidating situation like that. The saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” never seemed more appropriate.

What’s Killen’s first point of focus when working with a top player?

“What’s gonna make them the most money?” Killen said.

A pretty honest answer if you ask me, especially for a 31 year old. Killen first determines what a golfer is physically capable of doing and then establishes what’s possible, but the science and analysis behind Killen’s philosophy is anything but simple. He is well versed in body mechanics and the physics of impact, particularly gear effect, which he said is one of the main things his top players need to understand to remedy their misses.

“Most of these guys not only own their golf swings, but also have a path and club face relationship that creates a predictable pattern with the ball flight they want,” Killen said. “With modern equipment, especially the driver, understanding how gear effect can confuse certain misses is vital to a player’s working knowledge.”

I dug a little deeper with Killen. What I found was that he’s not trying to construct analytical golfing machines. Like his pursuit for the truth behind what makes a golf ball fly a certain way, he asks that his players take on the responsibility of knowing exactly who they are as players, and accepting what they can and can’t do. Once that awareness and trust is built, the success can follow.

“You always want all your players to have the comfort level to play any shot that is required, and most of the guys out there can under all conditions,” Killen said. “What I work on with my guys is to take ownership of their swing and to understand shot for shot how and why the ball is flying a certain way so they can address it quickly and focus on shooting the scores they need to win.”

I was curious; does J.B. Holmes’ plan differ this week at the Ryder Cup than it would at a typical PGA Tour event? Not really, Killen said.

“Working with J.B. this week, I will be focusing on establishing a predictable pattern,” he said. “After we walk the course and look at all the shots required, we will focus on on any particular shot he isn’t 100 percent comfortable with. Our preparation will be process focused and when he tees it up his focus will be the shot at hand and staying athletic. J.B. is a pure feel player, but he is also a student that searches for understanding of his golf swing and is able to discern the information quickly while being able to react as an athlete once he’s between the ropes.”

Under Ryder Cup pressure, especially the past few years, the players who have thrived were the those who fell back on their natural instincts and played the shots that felt right to them. At the end of the day, that’s all Killen is trying to get his players to understand and execute. At the top level, it’s often the golfer who is most comfortable in his own skin that will prevail, and the only pathway to that is to take full ownership of your motion.

What I also found compelling about Killen and his staff is that each of his Tour players, regardless of physical stature, is within the top 30 in driving distance. That includes Bud Cauley, who is currently averaging 300.1 yards off the tee while standing at only 5-feet, 7-inches and 155 pounds.

Looking at the big picture, Killen is only one teacher working with one of the 24 players this week. But for me, and maybe for many of you after reading this article, it really runs deeper than that. Golf has become a sport that has attracted some of the most unique young talents in the sports world. And prodigies of the educational variety, although not as flashy as a 345-yard drives or green jackets, are just as impressive. Matt Killen will be on PGA Tour ranges for a long time — not because he has a new swing philosophy or the flashiest stable of players. It’s because like the men he teaches, it’s all he’s cared about his entire life. It’s a selfless pursuit, and not exactly the most glamorous path. Most young golfers wanted to play like Tiger when they were 12, but Killen just wanted to know how he played like he did.

Here’s to a great Ryder Cup, and when you see great shots made down the stretch, remember there’s a swing coach watching who had something to do them.