Golf's World Cup appears to periodically lack a certain cachet, several of the game's top exponents apathetic at worst, or merely reluctant to alter playing schedules to incorporate the tournament.
Yet a cursory glance down the roll of honour from the inaugural event in 1953, then called the Canada Cup, to the half-century it celebrates this year, illustrates that it has previously attracted some of the sport's best ever players.
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Peter Thompson, Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods have all claimed victory for their respective countries over the years. So too Ireland's Christy O'Connor Snr and Harry Bradshaw (Mexico, 1958) and more recently Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley (Kiawah Island, 1997).
These days, though, the public appear more discerning, weaned on a diet of stellar fields and World Championship tournaments, quite apart from the regular European and US tours. It is a matter of perspective, certainly among the players and none epitomise this more than McGinley/ Harrington axis, Ireland's perennial representatives.
Today at Kiawah Island's Ocean course, the magnificent Pete Dye-designed links-style track that meanders through dunes and marshland and is largely bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, 48 players from 24 countries will tee it up over four days to ascertain who will lift the John Jay Hopkins - he founded the competition - in 2003.
If the wind blows, as is anticipated over the next 48 hours, then fortune will favour the most resilient, the clear blue skies and 88 degree Fahrenheit temperatures of the practice days will seem like a distant memory.
The format, changed in 2000 where previously players played their own ball and scores were totalled, to the two days of fourballs and two of foursomes, over which the teams now compete. The reason for the change was to try and steer away from six-hour rounds that reduced the tournament to an endurance test as much as one of playing acumen.
On the evidence of yesterday's final practice day the absence of Woods, Els and Sergio Garcia has been noted by the public, the galleries minuscule. It may change when the tournament proper begins but even the media centre lacks the sheer numbers and bustle usually inspired by a World Championship of golf event.
It's not as if the field lacks quality, the presence of strong teams from England (Paul Casey, Justin Rose), Sweden (Frederic Jacobsen, Niclas Fasth), Australia (Stuart Appleby, Stephen Leaney), Argentina (Eduardo Romero, Angel Cabrera) and the home side: former British Open champion Justin Leonard and current US Open title holder Jim Furyk will carry local expectations. In total there are 23 players in the field who have won across several tours.
Defending champions Shigeki Maruyama and Toshi Izawa, who set a record score of 36 under par under the new format last year in Mexico, pipping Phil Mickelson and David Toms, will defend their title.
Since coming under the umbrella of the World Championships of Golf as one of its event, the World Cup also boasts a decent prize fund ($4 million) with each member of the winning team receiving a cheque for $750,000.
The course has elicited widespread approval from the players, even the greens only relaid six months ago. Justin Rose enthused: "They're (greens) great. Right now they're at a speed where should it get windy they will still be playable. They're firm which is common to most new greens. You have to hit a very good shot to get the ball to react."
His playing partner, Paul Casey concurred: "Mid-iron shots were releasing five, six, seven yards."
One aspect of the tournament about which there seems to be varying opinion is the "correct way" to shoot low in the Fourball format. The English pair maintained that it was about keeping two balls in play, having two putts for birdie rather than one player going at the flag when another had hit the green.
Casey ventured: "It's about removing the pressure from your partner. As Justin (Rose) said two birdie putts from 20 feet, you have a better chance of making one of them than if there is only one guy left. If you're left on your own in a hole you tend to be a little more conservative."
Harrington offered a different slant: "Having two people in is not always going to be an advantage. If your partner hits the fairway, you might have a chance to take on a bunker. It's all as you go along, as you play every hole.
"It's definitely difficult for the second person if the first guy has hit the green or hit the fairway. It's always difficult for the secondperson to concentrate fully on his shot. It's like 'well there's no pressure on me.' There's a time to be aggressive and it's about being selective."
McGinley and Harrington though exude the easy familiarity of a comfy pair of slippers, well versed with each other's game, mindset and foibles. The expectation is there because of their success in 1997 but it is six years on over a much changed golf course, and a different format to boot.
It won't make them less competitive but as in 1997 they will have to earn their triumph over four rounds.
