One by one, they refused. Tiger Woods. Jim Furyk. Phil Mickelson. Davis Love. David Toms. Chris DiMarco. And, eventually, it came down to Stewart Cink - the 25th ranked player in the world and the seventh ranked American - who accepted the invite to represent the United States in the World Cup and asked his Ryder Cup team-mate JJ Henry to be his playing partner.

England's Luke Donald and David Howell have been installed as favourites for the event and Donald was one of those who feels the stay-away approach of many Americans has affected the credibility of the event.

"It's a shame they have to go down that low to find their first player, it would be nice to see the US have a bit of a stronger team. It is, after all, a world event. And when you have a nation that has such strong players, and no offence against Stewart Cink or JJ Henry, they are very strong players, but to have to go down that low weakens the (tournament) overall," said Donald.

If there is a sense that the Americans haven't sent their strongest pairing (and the same charge can be levelled at the South Africans and the Australians), then Cink, for one, is not prepared to be considered the weakest link.

"I've found over the years that the longer I go on playing on the PGA Tour, the more of a kick I get out of playing for the United States, whether it is the President's Cup, the Ryder Cup, the World Cup," said Cink.

And Henry, ranked 67th in the world, is making his debut in the World Cup but was equally gung-ho about playing.

"Are we the number one and number two in the world for the United States? No, we are not right now . . . but, at the same time, we are honoured to be here and looking forward to competing," said Henry.

Of the fact that so many American players decided to bypass the chance to play, Cink replied: "I wish I had played a little better to get myself to where they don't have to pass over anybody to get to me."

The truth of the matter is that the American pairing, on paper, is, at most, the fourth strongest in terms of favouritism behind England, Sweden and Ireland. But Cink opted for Henry as his partner on the basis of the bond that the pair built during the Ryder Cup loss to Europe.

"I've always admired his golf game quite a bit. This year he had a really good season, broke out with a win and got his first Ryder Cup experience . . . it just seemed a natural fit and it still does. We're going to have a good time this week, win or lose," said Cink.

Wales, meanwhile, will be attempting to retain the World Cup, after their win in the weather-hit event in Portugal last year when it was reduced to 54-holes.

Unlike last year, when Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd headed into the tournament in impressive form, the Welshmen have not played anything like as well this season. "We've both been in and out (of form) this season, so hopefully this is going to be an in week . . . I'm sure England will be going in as favourites, but, you know, there's 24 teams and a lot of good players, so you just have to go out and shoot low numbers," said Dredge.

Scotland are represented by Colin Montgomerie and European rookie of the year Marc Warren, with Montgomerie making his first appearance in the event since 1999.