Paraguay beating Scotland. . . India beating Scotland . . . down the years, the Alfred Dunhill Cup has thrown up its fair share of shocks and, yet, the round robin group nature of the qualifying generally means that a "big gun" goes on to win.

The United States, no doubt still smarting from their Ryder Cup defeat, enter this week's event at St Andrews, starting on Thursday, as 5 to 2 favourites to retain the title with South Africa priced at 9 to 2. Certainly, there is a touch of class about both teams: the US include British Open champion Justin Leonard; the South Africans are backboned by US Open champion Ernie Els.

Most attention is likely to focus on Spain - who have Miguel Angel Martin returning to competition after the injury that kept him out of duty in Valderrama - but, given his lack of practice, the odds of 22 to 1 about a Spanish win appear a mite short. Ireland, who have a good record, are priced at 12 to 1, but tip for the week is a Swedish win at odds of 11 to 2. 5-2 - USA. 9-2 - South Africa. 11-2 - Sweden. 9-1 - Australia. 11-1 - Zimbabwe. 12-1 - Ireland, England. 14-1 - Scotland. 16-1 - Argentina. 22-1 - New Zealand, Spain. 25-1 - Germany. 50-1 - France, Japan. 150-1 - Korea. 200-1 - Taiwan.

Prices supplied courtesy of Ladbrokes.