Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova defend their titles when the 126th edition of Wimbledon begins next week, but the odds are against both of them lifting the trophies for the second year in a row.

Such is the competitive nature of modern tennis, this feat was last achieved back in 1986 when Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova completed the double double.

Legend Navratilova, such an influence on Kvitova's career, also enjoyed successive title successes with Bjorn Borg in 1978 and 1979.

Djokovic and Kvitova were deservedly named 2011 ITF world champions in recognition of their Wimbledon triumphs and other outstanding results, but backing that up in 2012 has proved more difficult.

Kvitova was expected to assume the No. 1 ranking but has been stopped in her tracks by Maria Sharapova in the semifinals of the Australian and French Opens, while her form on the WTA Tour has been patchy.

Kvitova: Tennis without pressure would be boring

A first-round loss in the Eastbourne grass-court warmup tournament will hardly have helped the Czech's confidence.

Sharapova's French Open success has seen her back on top of the rankings and seedings for Wimbledon, and the Russian's chances of a first title at SW19 since her breakthrough as a 17-year-old in 2004 can never have been stronger.

She lost to Kvitova in last year's final, but has got stronger since then after ending her longterm shoulder problems.

Expect Australian Open champion and second seed Victoria Azarenka to be a factor, while Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska has previously won the Eastbourne title to show her credentials.

But picking the women's singles winner at a grand slam has become akin to buying a lottery ticket. The last six have been won by different players.

The smart and, strange to say, sentimental money may well be on Serena Williams, who has battled a life-threatening illness to become a force again despite occasional extraordinary lapses - such as her first-round exit at the French Open in late May.

For the 30-year it would be a fifth Wimbledon title and 14th grand slam crown, while elder sister Venus - already a five-time champion in London but now hampered by an autoimmune disease – is a dangerous unseeded floater in the draw.

She could meet Radwanska in the second round, while Serena has Kvitova in her sights in the last eight.

Serena and Venus have twice the incentive to focus. They are intent on pairing up to win a third Olympic gold medal in doubles at the 2012 London Games, with Wimbledon's grass courts again pressed into action to host the tournament.

Djokovic, meanwhile, was always going to struggle to repeat his 2012 heroics, but he has won a fifth grand slam title at the Australian Open and was only stopped by Rafael Nadal in the final in his bid to complete the "grand slam" at the French Open.

Nadal will offer a huge hurdle to the Serbian's hopes of a successful Wimbledon title defense, and - like Serena Williams – six-time winner Roger Federer will feel he has one more visit to the famous Champions' Ball.

Friday's draw left Federer set to play Djokovic in the semifinals, avoiding Nadal, which will be a relief to the Swiss maestro on recent form.

Unlike the women's singles, where it's possible to make the case for about a dozen players, it's difficult to see past these three, who have won 28 out of the last 29 grand slams between them.

Home hopes rest with fourth seed Andy Murray, who has reached the semifinals at Wimbledon three years in a row. Maybe, just maybe, coach Ivan Lendl's magic will rub off on him.

But remember, eight-time grand slam champion Lendl never won Wimbledon, losing in two finals, so it's hardly a good omen.

Murray's best chance of glory at Wimbledon may well come at the Olympics, where the formbook often goes out of the window in the singles competition.

The news that Serena Williams is to return to action for the first time in nearly a year certainly gives added spice to the build-up to the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon.

Williams has been sidelined since winning her fourth title at the All England Club since July, not hitting a ball in anger unless you count a money-spinning exhibition match against Kim Clijsters in Belgium in front of a record crowd for a tennis match.

But days before she had stepped on a shard of glass in a restaurant in Germany to set in course a train of events which she will want to banish to the back of her memory bank.

At first it seemed the injury was not too serious, and it did not seem to bother her during the Clijsters' match, but she then skipped the U.S. Open and further complications ruled out any hope of defending her Australian Open crown.

Skeptics still doubted the true extent of her injury as the 29-year-old seemed to be using her "downtime" to be a regular on the celebrity circuit in the States, but in late February they were silenced as Serena was rushed to hospital with a blood clot on her lung, or to use the correct medical term, a pulmonary embolism.

It was as she said later a "scary" moment and led to speculation that she had hit a tennis ball in action for the final time.

The 13-time grand slam winner though is clearly made of sterner stuff and will now return for another crack at Wimbledon glory, starting in the genteel surroundings of Eastbourne on the south coast of England.

But the big question on everyone's lips is can she ever return to her best after an injury requiring two surgeries and a medical condition that can prove fatal?

Modern day tennis requires supreme physical conditioning with any weaknesses ruthlessly exploited, so expect Serena to be given no quarter by opponents with a few scores to settle for the beatings she has handed down over the years.

There are also a new breed of stars to contend with like current world number one Caroline Wozniacki not to mention new French Open champion Li Na and the irrepressible Kim Clijsters who has won two of the last three grand slams while Serena has been sidelined.

Serena will doubtless point to the break she took through 2006 and her triumphant return the following year but that appeared more a question of motivation than battling back after a career-threatening health condition.

She was also much younger and just short of 30 is getting to the veteran stage even for a player of her incredible ability.

Having her sister Venus come back to the fray at the same tournament after a six-month layoff of her own will surely boost her morale and having won Wimbledon nine times between them, not to mention their doubles exploits, the other leading contenders will await their return with keen interest.

But ultimately reputation counts for nothing in the dog-eat-dog world of professional sport and if Serena shows just a whiff of fallibility, either physical or mental, her comeback could be shortlived.

Another clay-court tournament, another win for Rafael Nadal.

This part of the tennis season is becoming all too predictable, with the world number one hoovering up titles in Monte Carlo and now Barcelona with imperious ease for the loss of just one set.

It was his seventh straight title in Monaco, a record which will take some beating, and sixth in seven years in the Catalan capital.

Until Rafa burst onto the scene in 2004, the clay-court swing - which culminates in the French Open at the end of May - was marked by its unpredictability, with the rankings turned upside down as specialists on the red stuff enjoyed their moment in the sun.

Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten, Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Gaston Gaudio claimed the crown at Roland Garros in the immediate years before Nadal first won in 2005.

The big-servers like Pete Sampras would swiftly gain revenge at Wimbledon, but clay provided the less physically gifted a more level playing surface where sheer determination and touch or artistry could go a long way.

Not anymore. Nadal is a brute of a player, who snuffs out resistance and leaves his opponents defenseless.

His game is made for clay, with a deceptive service backed up by crushing groundstrokes, most imparted with the heaviest top spin in the game. His legendary physical strength means he can hit all-out winners from parts of the court, and he can run forever.

Nadal's domination at the French Open was only halted by debilitating knee injuries which saw him lose in the fourth round in 2009 to Robin Soderling, but he returned in 2010 to mop up his fifth title and few would bet against him making it six later this month.

Before that come Masters 1,000 events in Madrid and Rome where he gets the chance to increase his lead at the top of the world rankings from Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

But perhaps salvation is at hand for tennis fans growing tired of the same old winner, likeable though the "King of Clay" most certainly is.

Djokovic has begun 2011 as a man on a mission, racking up 24 straight wins, claiming the Australian Open crown and the Masters 1,000 events at Indian Wells and Miami, beating Nadal in both U.S. hard-court finals.

He talks of repeating the dose on clay, but so did Federer, who for all his genius had to wait until Nadal was sidelined in 2009 to take his only French Open crown.

Djokovic is a wonderful player and blessed with a new self-confidence, but beating Nadal on clay over five sets will be some ask.

Neutrals will be willing him all the way and hoping the likes of Andy Murray, who surprised everyone and probably himself by taking that set off Nadal in the Monte Carlo semis, can also step up to the plate.

But don't hold your breath.

With the wheeling and dealing of football's transfer deadline day in full swing, Europe's top clubs have the last chance to strengthen their squads for the challenges ahead.

But with the stakes high, an ill-timed gamble in an inflated transfer market can lead to a downturn in a team's fortunes and it's significant that the real giants of club football – the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United – rarely make permanent signings in mid-season.

Jose Mourinho's Real did pick up Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City on loan, and with the Togo international making his debut promptly lost at Osasuna Sunday night to all but end their La Liga title hopes.

With the economic downturn and new UEFA rulings on "financial fair play," spending this window looked set to fall short of the near $200 million spent by English Premier League clubs alone 2008.

But it's significant that most of the window's biggest signings to date have been in the EPL, with Edin Dzeko moving to cash-rich Manchester City from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for 31 million euros ($42 million) and Darren Bent switching from Sunderland for league rivals Aston Villa for 28 million euros ($38 million).

Much of the deadline-day interest has focused on Chelsea's pursuit of Fernando Torres, with honorable mentions for the cluster of clubs who want to get their hands on Newcastle's Andy Carroll and Sergio Aguero of Atletico Madrid.

With Torres reportedly set leave Liverpool, the Reds have sealed the signing of Uruguay sharpshooter Luis Suarez from Ajax for a relatively cut-price 26.5m euros ($36 million).

That may prove to be the best signing of all, as he's scored at nearly a goal a game for the Dutch giants, but who do you think will be the best signing of the January transfer window ?

With deals set to be completed right up to the 2300 GMT Monday deadline, leave your comments below.

CNN's World Sport will be broadcasting its predictions for 2011 in upcoming shows between December 31-January 2. In the fifth of a series of preview blogs, Paul Gittings takes a look at sprint star Usain Bolt's prospects at the World Athletics Championships.

The 2011 track and field season will be crucial in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics, and the sport’s top stars will want to lay down a marker with their performances in the major championships.

The question on everyone’s lips will be: Can Usain Bolt repeat his triple triumphs at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2009 Berlin world championships - and again break world records to boot?

The 2011 worlds in Daegu, South Korea will see the Jamaican defend his 100m and 200m individual titles as well as his country’s sprint relay title.

Despite the attentions of arch-rival Tyson Gay of the United States, expect Bolt to retain his individual crowns – but breaking his own world records will be a big ask.

His marks of 9.58 seconds and 19.19 from Berlin in 2009 could easily last a generation, if Bolt does not break them himself, and came as he built on the momentum of his Beijing gold rush.

While individual records may have to wait, the strength in depth of Jamaican sprinting increases the chances of Bolt and his cohorts breaking their own world record of 37.10 seconds in the 4x100m relay in Daegu. Aside from Bolt and Asafa Powell, a clutch of young sprinters are desperate to make their mark – witness the victory of Lerone Clarke in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi earlier this year.

The media will certainly hype up Bolt's rivalry with Gay, and that's good for a sport which has suffered from its share of doping scandals and a general decline in interest.

But from the afficianado's point of view, there is the intriguing prospect that Bolt may turn his attentions to the 400m and specifically Michael Johnson's world record time of 43.18 , which has stood for 11 long years.

Bolt's early career suggested he would be a 200-400m specialist, like American legend Johnson, and in the build-up to Beijing the 400m was very much in his sights as he prepared that winter with coach Glen Mills.

But after smashing the world 100m record in early 2008, he opted for the 100-200 double and the rest is history.

However, the showman in Bolt (and what a showman!) could surely not resist the temptation of a clean sweep of world records from 100-400 and with it athletics immortality.

It's all a question of timing. Mills said recently that Bolt would reach his peak in 2012 for the London Olympics, the assumption being that he would try to attempt his Beijing and Berlin triple, but it may just be that "Lightning" won't strike twice and he will turn his attentions to other challenges like the 400. If not then, surely in 2013.

While Bolt hogs the headlines, track and field's other superstars can sometimes be ignored, but Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele is arguably the greatest distance runner of all-time, succeeding Haile Gebrselassie as Olympic 10,000m champion.

Gebrselassie said he would quit after dropping out of the 2010 New York marathon, but then changed his mind, so his return in 2011 is also eagerly awaited. Likewise Paula Radcliffe, the women’s marathon world-record holder who has taken time out to have a second child.

London 2012 will be their focus, and a more popular marathon gold double could not be imagined.

And when Yelena Isinbayeva isn’t helping Russia to win the rights to stage football's World Cup in 2018, she can be seen breaking world records just about every week in the pole vault. After taking a break in 2010,  the two-time world and Olympic champion will surely return next year with a vengeance.

It is just under a year since Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant near his Florida home and set in chain a sequence of events which saw his tangled personal life become front-page news for week after week.

It was a public relations disaster and Woods went into a self-imposed exile, only returning to competitive golf for the Augusta Masters in April.

A fourth-place finish at the first major led many to predict that it would take only a matter of weeks for the 14-time major winner to regain his former preeminence and dominate his fellow professionals.

But the opposite happened and despite the odd exception - another decent showing at the U.S. Open and dogged display at the Ryder Cup - it has been a dispiriting season for Tiger, culminating in his loss of the World No.1 spot after five years to England's Lee Westwood.

He is set to be win less in a year for the first time in his professional career and his target of equaling the record 18 majors of Jack Nicklaus looks a long way off.

Thoroughly deserved one might say, but whatever your views on Woods' private life, the fact is that every professional player owes him a huge debt of gratitude for attracting the massive prize money on offer as big corporations battled to be associated with him.

He was golf.

Tournaments lacking the American superstar were considered almost second-class affairs and TV-ratings plummeted if he was not involved. 'The Tiger effect' also surely had big influence on the decision by the IOC to include golf in the Olympic program in 2016.

But nobody could surely argue this was healthy state of affairs for a game played by millions on all continents to be so reliant on one man to represent its fortunes.

As Tiger battled his personal demons and with the world economy in recession, the game's money men must have taken a sharp intake of breath.

But they should be reassured. Golf survived without Tiger.

And it's actually been a thoroughly good thing that in the vacuum left by his fall from grace and fall the top spot, other players have stepped up to the mark.

37-year-old Westwood thoroughly deserves to be number one for his consistency, Phil Mickelson continues to delight and frustrate in equal parts, but snapping at their heels are a clutch of young guns led by PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer, Northern Ireland pair Rory McIlroy and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, Rickie Fowler, Ricky Barnes from the States, Ryo Ishikawa from Japan.

The list is growing, the Molinari brothers and Matteo Manassero, all from Italy, the latter the youngest European Tour winner at 17.

Of course, Tiger isn't going to take this on the chin and just walk away.

A fascinating theme for next year will be his struggle to get back to the top, to win another major, but this unhealthy obsession with one man is over for good and I think that's a good thing.

Golf's silly season officially began with the PGA's rather loftily titled Grand Slam of Golf, which took place in the sun-kissed paradise of Bermuda recently.

It brings together the four winners of the year's majors who play over 36 holes. The winner takes home  a cool $600,000  with generous prize money for the other three.

PGA champion Martin Kaymer and U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell snapped up their invitations but unfortunately for the organizers, Masters champion Phil Mickelson understandably decided to put his family first after a long season and skip the event, while British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was injured.

Alternates David Toms and Ernie Els, fine golfers both, who have not exactly been forces in majors the last few seasons were hastily drafted in and rather embarrasingly proceeded to dominate with Els winning.

That's the nature of golf but after McDowell's Ryder Cup heroics and Kaymer's three in a row tournament triumphs, the tepid atmosphere at the Port Royal Golf Course was less than inspiring. They finished eight shots behind Els. 

Watched by a smattering of  a gallery, it's hard to escape the feeling that these end of season invitational tournaments serve little purpose other than to fill the pockets of the participants and a few hours of satellite channel air time.

But the cash bonanza does not end there for golf's superstars. Genuine end of season competition resumes with the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai in November where the battle for the world number one ranking will be gripping, while for the European Tour stars the Race to Dubai reaches its climax in the emirate.

But then come the first week of December and the gravy train is in full swing.

It kicks off at the Tiger Woods-hosted Chevron World Challenge where the prizes are hardly to be sniffed at, with $1.2 million going to last year's winner Jim Furyk.

Despite being an 18-man invitational event, what started as an end of season exhibition affair has now become an official tournament attracting world ranking points.

The argument for this would have been made stronger because at the same time in South Africa, the Sun City Challenge, sponsored by a major bank, is also going on and $1.2 million is offered to the winner from the 12-man invitational field.  Again ranking points are on offer for the lucky few who get the call from the organizers.

The players aren't to blame here and who wouldn't pitch up to add to their pension funds? And a lot of money is donated to charity.

But, and it's a big but, the line has to be drawn between genuine, full-blooded competitive tournaments, such as the majors and regular season Tour events, and invite-only small-field events in which the rich just get richer and consolidate their position in the world rankings for good measure.

It was a trend started when the late, great Mark McCormack  created the World Match Play tournament at Wentworth in the 1960s and invited all the game's legends to turn up.

Since, through his International Management Group (IMG) he had most of them signed up, their participation was not in question and winning the tournament was highly prestigious.

It was the era before the world ranking list, but when it was introduced it quickly attained that status and started to count towards the European Order of Merit.

But as player's earning power increased, the attraction of playing 36 holes per day in the English autumn grew less attractive and the quality of the field declined.

World number one Tiger Woods is IMG's star client but he took it off his regular schedule and its status year by year grew less important.  The other problem was the quality and status of the replacements for the game's very elite, who surely by sheer chance, mostly happened to be IMG clients.

And that is the nub of the problem with invitational events, it's not an even playing field, or in this case golf course, and leaves too much power in the hands of tournament organizers and sponsors.

They have every right to put on events, pay as much prize money as they want, but administrators should put a stop now to this 'rankings creep'.

It  undermines genuine full-field tournaments and helps widen the gap between the game's existing elite and young up and coming stars who are working their way up the rankings.

Forget the rain delays or the row over ticketing arrangements for the final unexpected day of play at Celtic Manor, the Ryder Cup has cemented its status as the biggest and best one-off team event in world sport bar none.

It brings together a collection of multi-millionaires, who spend their whole year in pursuit of individual glory, to play for their country, or in Europe's case their continent, with no prize money at stake.

But boy, does it not mean a lot to those who are taking part. Who can forget Jeff Overton's frenetic celebration as he holed his approach shot for an eagle on Sunday ?

Or the sheer joy on the faces of Northern Ireland pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell as they closed out a vital victory in the European fightback, inspired by a team talk from skipper Colin Montgomerie.

McIlroy now gets it. Last year he made unflattering comments about the Ryder Cup, saying the majors were far more important.

After holing a nervy five-footer for a crucial half against Stewart Cink, he admitted that playing in the Ryder Cup topped anything he had done in his meteoric career.

Partner McDowell thought he knew all there was to know about pressure after winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

But as events unfolded Monday that took on a new dimension as it became clear the whole outcome of the Ryder Cup rested on his shoulders.

The experience of a few months ago proved invaluable as he kept his nerve to close out Hunter Mahan, spare a thought for him, to cue scenes of unbridled European jubilation.

There were other heroes too. For Europe Ian Poulter underlined his reputation as a team golf player par excellence to lead their points tally with Luke Donald, who was steadiness personified. Three points apiece for both.

While for the beaten U.S. team two men stood up to be counted. Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were on the receiving end of a humiliating six and five defeat to Donald and Lee Westwood, but both came out to win crucial singles matches and take their tallies to three points.

Tiger in his crushing victory over Francesco Molinari showed he is returning to his very best form, but this week has been all about the team and he gave his all for the U.S.

For the eventual outcome to come down to the very last match on course after four days of titanic struggle was a dream scenario for organizers, the fans and TV, but most of all for the game of golf.

Corey Pavin and his team will be feeling the pain of defeat but in my opinion they are all winners for their part in one of the greatest Ryder Cup matches in history.

In the not so distant past, the U.S. Open was dominated by American tennis legends such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and before that John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, but going into next week's final grand slam home hopes are slim at best.

Andy Roddick may have moved back into the top 10 in the world rankings and Mardy Fish pushed Roger Federer all the way in the Cincinnati final, but it's really hard to make a case for a home player to triumph at Flushing Meadows.

Strip away the Williams sisters (Serena is injured for the final grand slam of the year) and Roddick and the cupboard is worringly bare, and none of that illustrious trio is getting any younger.

The USTA, rather like their counterparts at the LTA in Britain, has come under heavy criticism for not producing the successors to the likes of Sampras and Agassi, or even Roddick, despite the huge revenues raked in by their home grand slam.

The outspoken McEnroe, is putting his money where his mouth is, fronting up an $18 million academy on Randall's Island in New York, believing that future lies in properly developing grassroots talent from urban areas.

His initiative has received almost universal acclaim and it is hard not to wish McEnroe well in his venture, but the need to develop new talent is urgent, not least because both the ATP and WTA Tours rely heavily on big-money tournaments in North America.

Once the likes of Boris Becker and Steffi Graf retired, tennis in Germany became far less popular, with sponsors departing the scene so it is not far fetched to imagine a similar situation developing in the U.S.

It's time now for the young pretenders in the U.S. game to step up to the plate and become genuine grand slam contenders, starting next week at Flushing Meadows.

Here are five players, all ranked in the top 50, who might defy the odds, but they will be long shots at best.

1) John Isner: Who can forget his incredible exploits at Wimbledon where he created tennis history in his 11-hour epic against Nicolas Mahut ? It showed incredible mental tenacity and the 2.06 meter giant is also the highest ranked U.S. male bar Roddick at 20. Ultimately he will want to be remembered as a grand slam winner rather than a marathon man, so here's his chance.

2) Mardy Fish: Up to world number 21 after his Cincinnati exploits and boosted by back-to-back tournament wins at Newport and Atlanta, beating Isner in the final in the latter. He has shed an incredible 14kg due to a tougher training regime and is starting to regularly beat higher-ranked players.

3) Sam Querrey: The third of the Americans bunched together in the rankings at 22, he has flat lined around this mark for the past year, but showed his talent by winning the prestigioius Queen's Club title just before Wimbledon as well as three other ATP titles this year. He has yet to go beyond the fourth round in his previous grand slam attempts.

4) Donald Young: Has needed one of the wildcards dished out by the USTA to get into the main singles draw. As a teenager, Young was lauded as a future grand slam champion and reached the third round of the U.S. Open in 2007 before his progress stalled alarmingly. There are some signs the now 21-year-old from Atlanta might fulfil his early promise in which case the USTA would breath a sigh of relief.

5) Melanie Oudin: Reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadow last year as a 17-year-old and is the only U.S.women's player in the top 50 outside of Serena and Venus, so no pressure there then. Her performances in 2010 have hardly matched that weight of expectation but perhaps she can match her 2009 heroics where she beat Elena Dementieva and Marai Sharapova no less.

Unfortunately, this is all rather clutching at straws and it could still be the case that a relative unknown, like Oudin last year, will burst to prominence and come to the rescue of U.S. tennis, but don't hold your breath.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin caused quite a stir when he said Tiger Woods would not be an automatic choice in his team for the Ryder Cup clash against Europe at Celtic Manor later this year.

Pavin was reacting as Woods slipped further outside the eight guaranteed selection spots in the latest American standings, meaning if the situation remained the same the world number one would have to rely on his largesse to make the team as one of his four picks.

All-time majors leader Jack Nicklaus was unusually outspoken when saying Pavin would need a "brain scan" if he did not to pick Woods, but with respect to a golf legend, the bald facts, not to mention the world number one's current off course difficulties, do not make this so cut and dried.

Because for all his supreme talents, Woods has a losing Ryder Cup record of 10 wins against 13 defeats.

And when Woods was sidelined by injury for the 2008 contest at Valhalla in Kentucky, the U.S. shrugged off the loss of their star player to thrash Europe and regain the coveted trophy.

Without the focus on Tiger, the American team appeared more united and the likes of Kenny Perry and Boo Weekley played out of their skins in a home victory in one of the best contests in the history of the biennial showpiece.

Out of form, nursing a problematic neck injury and without a coach after the departure of Hank Haney, Woods certainly needs to up his game over the next couple of months to force his way into the top eight.

All this against the backdrop of a well-publicized scandal which forced him to go into self-imposed exile as he battled personal demons with golf far from his mind.

It was a measure of Tiger's talent that he returned to tie for fourth in the Masters, despite playing by his own admission "military" golf, hitting it left then right from tee to green and only saved by his amazing recovery shots.

His performances since Augusta have hardly inspired and he was forced to take a second, this time enforced break, after pulling out of the Players Championship through injury.

Fast forward over four months to Celtic Manor and a fanatical home following in autumnal conditions in Wales which will favor the Europeans, who are also packing the higher echelons of the world rankings at the moment.

If Woods cannot make the team on merit, Pavin would do well to leave him at home and for his picks put his faith in the players that served the U.S. so well in 2008.

Because make no mistake, a lethal mix of partisan and at times over-excitable Ryder Cup galleries and a British tabloid media hungry for exclusives could prove a very unwelcome distraction for both Woods and his teammates, not to mention the organizers.

Tiger's non-appearance will also not make a jot of difference for the Ryder Cup's bottom line with the event already a sellout and lucrative television deals done long in advance.

For sure, the same cannot be said for the regular PGA Tour where TV ratings are down due to his absences, rescued in part by the fine form shown by his arch-rival Phil Mickelson, who is a certainty to make the U.S. team and will be a key figure in their title defense.

Whether Tiger is in Wales with him remains a matter for debate, but the temptation to pair the two golfers in the world will also be one that Pavin will resist.

His 2004 predecessor Hal Sutton sent them out together at Oakland Hills, but after two straight defeats the experiment was quickly abandoned as the U.S. stumbled to a record defeat.

Pavin will be desperate to avoid that sort of humiliation but will face a tough decision over Woods if his mini-slump continues over the next few months. With a reputation as a no-nonsense competitor it is clear from his recent comments that he would not shy away from the previously unthinkable and leave Tiger at home.