| 1 |
 |
SWEDEN |
Robert Karlsson, Henrik Stenson |
| Karlsson is a stud in Europe; in 2008, he became the first Swede to win that tour's Order of Merit as its leading player. Stenson has five career European Tour wins, as well as that World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play win in 2007. We're thinking they'll break Sweden's 16-year World Cup drought. |
| 2 |
 |
ENGLAND |
Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher |
| Poulter has finished no worse than fifth in two previous World Cup appearances. If he plays like he did at the Ryder Cup, he could carry Fisher -- who won the 2008 European Open -- to victory. |
| 3 |
 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
Rory Sabbatini, Richard Sterne |
| Sabbatini has a solid track record at the World Cup, with a win (with Trevor Immelman) and three other top fives. Two years ago, Sabbatini and Sterne finished fourth. |
| 4 |
 |
UNITED STATES |
Ben Curtis, Brandt Snedeker |
| Curtis and Snedeker are both World Cup rookies, but it's hard to imagine that the pressure will get to either TOUR pro. Can they give the U.S. its 24th win at the World Cup? |
| 5 |
 |
GERMANY |
Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka |
| Kaymer's one of the top up-and-coming players in the world; he won twice in 2008 in Europe. He teamed with Cejka last year to finish sixth. |
| 6 |
 |
SCOTLAND |
Colin Montgomerie, Alastair Forsyth |
| Never, ever count out Monty at these things; he won last year with Marc Warren and has finished top five or better six other times. But he's never been paired with Forsyth, who is making his fourth World Cup appearance. |
| 7 |
 |
DENMARK |
Soren Hansen, Anders Hansen |
| The Hansens (who are not related, by the way), will be making their fourth World Cup appearance together. They finished fifth in 2005. |
| 8 |
 |
IRELAND |
Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley |
| McGinley is making his 13th World Cup appearance, the last 10 with Padraig Harrington (they won in 1997). McDowell is a World Cup rookie but with plenty of game. |
| 9 |
 |
WALES |
Bradley Dredge, Richard Johnson |
| Dredge teamed with Stephen Dodd to win in 2005, but he'll be breaking in a new partner in Johnson, who made just nine of 29 cuts on TOUR this year after leading the Nationwide Tour's money list in 2007. |
| 10 |
 |
SPAIN |
Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal |
| Jimenez is making his 12th World Cup appearance but he has never won. If he and Sergio Garcia were together, we'd consider ranking them first, but Larrazabal is a World Cup rookie. |
| 11 |
 |
JAPAN |
Ryuji Imada, Toru Taniguchi |
| Imada broke through with his first PGA TOUR win in Atlanta over the summer but struggled with just one top-10 finish in his last 12 starts. Taniguchi is a mainstay on the Japan Tour with 14 wins. Both are making their World Cup debuts. |
| 12 |
 |
CHINA |
Liang Wen-chong, Zhang Lian-wei |
| They'll have the home-crowd support. But more than that, the Zhang-Liang duo -- which is making its third World Cup appearance together -- could be a nice sleeper pick. They finished 11th last year. |
| 13 |
 |
AUSTRALIA |
Brendan Jones, Richard Green |
| Green's only previous World Cup appearance was 10 years ago; Jones is making his debut, but he has played well overseas (eight wins on Japan Golf Tour). |
| 14 |
 |
FRANCE |
Gregory Bourdy, Gregory Havret |
| Don't underestimate Havret -- he finished third (with partner Raphael Jacquelin) a year ago. Bourdy has won two European Tour events in the past two years. Ranking them 14th might be a little low. |
| 15 |
 |
INDIA |
Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh |
| Singh is one of the guys who can play brilliant at times (he finished T-9 at the PGA Championship) and Randhawa will be making his third World Cup appearance. |
| 16 |
 |
ITALY |
Edoardo Molinari, Francesco Molinari |
| The Molinari brothers finished 17th at the World Cup last year so expect a slight improvement with a year under their belts. |
| 17 |
 |
THAILAND |
Prayad Marksaeng, Thongchai Jaidee |
| Jaidee and Marksaeng will be paired together for the second consecutive year; they finished T15 last year. They have 11 combined victories on the Asian Tour. |
| 18 |
 |
CHINESE TAIPEI |
Lu Wen-teh, Lin Wen-tang |
| Combined, Lin and Lu have eight Asian Tour victories, including one each in 2008. Chinese Taipei does have a previous World Cup win ... in 1972. |
| 19 |
 |
NEW ZEALAND |
David Smail, Mark Brown |
| Smail teamed with Michael Campbell in 2001 to finish second, New Zealand's best-ever finish; this will be his fourth time at the World Cup. Brown is making his first appearance. |
| 20 |
 |
CANADA |
Wes Heffernan, Graham Dalaet |
| Heffernan could only manage a T17 with Mike Weir as his partner last year. With World Cup rookie Dalaet on board, it's doubtful the Canadians can improve on that. |
| 21 |
 |
KOREA |
Kim Hyung-Tae, Bae Sang-Moon |
| Bae won the Korea Open this year but his partner is still looking for a significant win. Neither has World Cup experience, but they won the Asian qualifier to get here. |
| 22 |
 |
CHILE |
Felipe Aguilar, Mark Tullo |
| Aguilar won the Indonesia Open this year, but Tullo is still seeking his first big win. Chili has never finished in the top 10 in the World Cup in its 36 previous appearances. |
| 23 |
|
GUATEMALA |
Pablo Acuna, Alejandro Villavicencio |
| Villavicencio and Acuna won the South American qualifier to guarantee their first trip to the World Cup. Individually, neither has a significant professional win. |
| 24 |
 |
FINLAND |
Mikko Korhonen, Roope Kakko |
| Kakko and Korhonen won the European qualifier by eight strokes over the Canadian duo, so we might be underestimating them at No. 24. Kakko won the Volvo Finnish Open as an amateur in 2004. |
| 25 |
 |
VENEZUELA |
Miguel Martinez, Raul Sanz |
| The 38-year-old Martinez has two prior appearances at the World Cup, the latest coming in 2000. His 26-year-old partner, Sanz, is making his first World Cup appearance. |
| 26 |
 |
MEXICO |
Oscar Serna, Daniel DeLeon |
| Serna has one previous World Cup appearance, 11 years ago (finishing 12th with Rafael Alarcon), while De Leon is making his first World Cup start. |
| 27 |
 |
PHILIPPINES |
Marciano Pucay, Angelo Que |
| Que wasn't even born when the Philippines finished second in 1977. But he does have two Asian Tour wins. Pucay is making his second World Cup appearance. |
| 28 |
 |
PORTUGAL |
Tiago Cruz, Ricardo Santos |
| Cruz and Santos came in third in the European qualifier in Poland. |
