New Zealand professionals Gareth Paddison and Michael Hendry are honoured to play alongside some of the best names in world golf but they're not going as fans of the game's elite - they want win the World Cup.
The pair, who won their qualifying event in Malaysia, are hoping to surprise a field full of major champions and top-10 players when the event begins on Thursday at Mission Hills in China.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, England's Ian Poulter and Justin Rose and the South African pairing of Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen are among the favourites to lift the trophy. The Italian pairing of Edoardo and Francesco Molinari, who became the first brother combination to win the event last year, return to Mission Hill to try to win consecutive titles.
But for all the star power Hendry, never one to lack confidence, believes he and Paddison can turn some heads.
"A lot of these guys play at the same level all year and know each other well so we are an unknown quantity really and there might be some complacency towards us,'' he said. "We'd like to surprise them and show them we can play.''
Paddison said he and Hendry took a lot of confidence out of the way they qualified for the event in winning in Malaysia.
"All we were trying to do was to qualify in the top three so to win the event was a great result,'' he said. "There were some very encouraging signs there. We were very good in the best ball, we struggled a bit in the foursomes so that is something we need to work on. I played a lot better in the final round and it was great for us to qualify.
"We both played great and had very good moments throughout the week. We know each other's games very well and know what we are capable of but we are also great mates and can be honest with each other. We have been working hard on our games and hopefully that pays off.
"We work really well together and the fact we are a left hand-right hand combination is a huge advantage. We can shape the ball when we need to and we have played a lot together over the past few years so it will be great enjoying this experience with a good mate.''
Hendry and Paddison are seventh and 10th on the One Asia Order of Merit respectively and are comfortable playing in Asian conditions. There will also be little attention focused their way with so many top players in China.
"We are capable of a really good performance,'' Paddison said. "No one will be talking about us so that is a nice place to be in, there is no pressure or expectation on our performance so we can just go out and play.''
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