Page 24 of the World Cup Media Guide '99 is blank. It's where details of the Australian team for this week's $1.5 million tournament at the Mines Resort are meant to be. And the players, who are unlikely to be confused with such antipodean giants as Greg Norman or Peter Thomson, find it all quite amusing.

"I was probably guilty of partying a bit and having a few too many drinks," said 29-year-old Paul Gow, by way of explaining his status as a late developer. And Terry Price, who is a few years older, is also making his World Cup debut while contemplating a return to the Japanese qualifying school.

So, instead of being the senior partners to the Paraguayan duo of Pedro Martinez and Raul Fretes in tomorrow's draw, they will probably have to battle hard to keep pace with the South Americans. And it's all admirably democratic: Gow and Price qualified as 11th and 12th in an Australian Order of Merit which happens to be dominated by New Zealanders.

Alongside such leading lights as Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara and Colin Montgomerie - all of whom, incidentally, have been paid handsome appearance fees to be here - they emphasise the special, even quirky appeal of an event which had its beginnings in 1953. But the future doesn't look especially bright.

It was hoped to make an announcement here on Sunday about the tournament's future, but that is not going to happen. And all because the USPGA Tour commissioner, Tim Finchem, who originally saw this as a logical fourth World Golf Championship (WGC) event for next year, appears to have gone cold on the idea.

"Certain things have been agreed, but nothing has been signed," admitted Burch Riber, executive director of the International Golf Association (IGA), who are responsible for running the World Cup.

And it is unlikely the IGA could go it alone, given the money involved. For instance, it is reported that the Mines Resort have paid $6 million for the privilege of staging this week's event.

The suspicion is that Finchem and his colleagues in the Federation of World Tours have enough on their plate in attempting to make the existing WGC events viable without taking on a further headache.

But, of course, the players are unconcerned by it all, especially those who are getting money up front. Woods, whose reported fee is now quoted at $1.1 million, has been decidedly quiet so far, settling for a few holes in practice yesterday, having rested on Monday.

In the meantime, he has hit on a novel way of keeping the media at bay. Intrusive calls were passed on to his coach, Butch Harmon, and a top-level public relations company couldn't have done a better job. Among other things, Harmon told the local media here: "Tiger is humble, with lots of humour and down to earth."

The coach went on: "For all his wealth, he lives in a modest house in Orlando. He is a charismatic person and very magnanimous. His main focus is to continue winning, especially the major championships."

Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington concede that Woods and partner Mark O'Meara are logical favourites to regain a title which Fred Couples and Davis Love brought to the US for a 21st time in 1995. But at the end of a decidedly indifferent year, O'Meara expressed concern that he could "play my part for the team".

Meanwhile, McGinley emphasised: "We won't be thinking about the Yanks. We proved at Kiawah Island in 1997 that, if we play as good as we can, we're capable of beating any opposition."

Though Harrington confessed to a little stiffness, he seems to have recovered from the back strain which forced him to withdraw from the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan last weekend.

"The rest seems to have done the trick," he said. But it wasn't all rest, given that he spent two days with his coach, Bob Torrance, before flying here.

Both players were concerned about the severity of the Bermuda greens which are certain to present a searching examination of nerve and skill. "Some of the greens have only two obvious pin positions," said McGinley. While in a reference to the tricky nap, Harrington added: "You're going to see some very odd looking putting over the four days."

The layout, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr, has a particularly interesting opening hole, where the right half of the fairway is dominated by a lone oak. This week, the men's medal tee will be in use, which means that the tree is 256 yards away. And the players don't like it.

Only the longer hitters will be able to deliver the necessary carry of 275 yards to clear the tree. The others, including McGinley, must be content to lay up short with a long iron off the tee and then play a nine-iron second shot: it would not be prudent to aim for the gap to the left of the tree, as there is water just off the fairway.

In the event, Harrington had no problem yesterday, smashing a driver comfortably over the tree to finish only 30 yards short of the green. But, all the while, he and his fellow competitors had to be careful to progress at a leisurely pace, in view of the intense humidity.