In most other sports a World Cup is the pinnacle but in golf it is merely another lucrative week for those able to shoe-horn playing for their country into their busy schedules.
At the weekend the United States claimed victory in China having sent a team comprising their fifth and 17th ranked players.
Matt Kuchar, at number 11 in the world, was the highest placed American willing to make the trip in the week of Thanksgiving and had managed to persuade Gary Woodland to be his partner for an event that should command far more prestige than it does.