Corey Pavin began his tenure as American Ryder Cup captain by insisting his team would defend the trophy in 2010 as underdogs.

Pavin, 49, will lead the Americans at Celtic Manor in Wales. He succeeds Paul Azinger, who regained the trophy for the US after three consecutive defeats when his unfancied side beat Nick Faldo's European team 16-11 at Valhalla in September.

The new captain was unveiled at a press conference in a Manhattan restaurant today and charged by PGA of America president Jim Remy with the task of retaining the Samuel Ryder Trophy for the first time since 1993, the last time a US side won on European soil, at The Belfry.

"We have given him one mission, and one mission only: To keep The Ryder Cup on American soil," Remy said.

"We understand that won't be easy. It won't be an easy task, certainly heading off to Wales."

Pavin underlined the point, saying that going to Wales would make retaining the trophy extremely difficult.

"I can thank Paul (Azinger) and the US team for giving me an extra half a point to work with when we go over to Celtic Manor in Wales," Pavin said.

"That may be valuable, it's nice to have a little cushion there. But you know, going over there, it's going to be so different. In Louisville we had fans that were crazy cheering for the Americans. Going over there, we are going to have very pro European crowd, and it's going to be tough. It's going to be a very difficult challenge to go over there.

"On the other hand, we have a winning team. We have had a winning team, but I still look at it as we are underdogs when we go over there.

"We are going to be on foreign soil. It will be 17 years by the time we get there, the last time we won a Ryder Cup (overseas).

"There will be a lot of challenges and I look forward to looking those right in the eye and tackling them."

Pavin who served as an assistant captain to Tom Lehman at the K Club in 2006, had been a team member at The Belfry in 1993, his second of three consecutive Ryder Cup appearances in which won eight and lost five of his 13 matches.

He was also a winner in 1991 at Kiawah Island but lost on home soil in 1995 at Oak Hill, the year he won the US Open.

Clutching the trophy, he said having played on a winning team overseas made him an ideal candidate for the job at Celtic Manor in 2010.

"I think it's important that I participated overseas in The Ryder Cup and was on a winning team," Pavin said.

"I certainly have a feel for what it's like to play overseas in The Ryder Cup.

"It was great to be on a winning team, obviously. There's a few things that I learned when I was over there playing in the '93 Ryder Cup that I will use in 2010.

"And I'm sure between now and then, I'll come up with some more ideas and some more concepts.

"It obviously is always helpful to have the experience and to have been there and gone through it as a player. So I think that I can apply that pretty well as a captain."

Pavin paid tribute to his predecessor Azinger but insisted that while there may be similarities in their approaches, his 2010 team would be prepared and captained in very much his own style.

"I think Paul and I are similar in the fact that we love the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is in my blood. I think if you cut my arm open, Ryder Cup would just bleed out. It's the greatest event in the world, certainly the golf world.

"It's something that as far as how I'm going to go about it, I'm going to lead this team. Our goal is to go over there and win and just bring this trophy right back with us.

"There's going to be a lot of things I'll be thinking about and a lot of strategies and a lot of plans I'll be working on over the next two years. I have a few ideas already.

"But obviously having played over at The Belfry in '93, it's a different challenge, as I said, and there's going to be some different things that need to be done. And I will work on those over the next couple of years."

COREY PAVIN FACTFILE

1959:Born in Oxnard, California on November 16.
1982:Turns professional.
1984:Picks up first PGA Tour victory at Houston Coca-Cola Open.
1991:Tops PGA'S money list — the last man to do so without winning at least $1million in prize money.
September — Plays in first Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island, South California. Picked up a point in the singles as USA went on to win the 'War on the Shore'.
1993:Part of American team which retained the Ryder Cup at The Belfry, picking up three points.
1995:June — Wins US Open by two strokes over Greg Norman for the only major victory of his career.
September -Tastes only career defeat in Ryder Cup, despite winning four out of five matches at Oak Hill. Ends his Ryder Cup career with eight wins and five defeats.
2004:Runner-up to Nick Price in USPGA Championship at Southern Hills.
2006:July — Wins 15th PGA Tour title at US Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Also breaks the record for the fewest number of strokes needed to complete nine holes at a PGA Tour event (26).
2008:Named as America's Ryder Cup captain for their defence of the trophy at Celtic Manor in Wales in 2010.