Ten players - eight of them American, including US Open champion Lucas Glover - have turned down places in next week's HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.

The event becomes part of the World Golf Championships series for the first time and has prize-money totalling £4.2million.

But while the sponsors are naturally delighted that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are in the 78-strong field, the list of withdrawals will not go down so well.

Glover's compatriots Steve Stricker - the current world number three - Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, Scott Verplank, Dustin Johnson and Heath Slocum, plus Fiji's Vijay Singh and South African Tim Clark are not making the trip.

The World Championships have all been staged in the United States since The Grove in England was the venue for the American Express Championship in 2006.

Since the series started 10 years ago the Accenture Match Play has only once been taken out of America - that was in Australia in 2001 and the field was the weakest ever - and the Bridgestone Invitational has always been at the Firestone course in Akron.

One American who is doing a lot of travelling is Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.

He was in Wales earlier this month, and along with opposite number Colin Montgomerie is watching the Volvo World Match Play in Spain this week. Both are former winners.

His only potential team member in the 16-man field is Anthony Kim, who got his place because seven other United States players turned down spots.

"I like to travel personally, but I can understand the decisions of those who don't," Pavin said. "People have families."

Unlike Montgomerie, Pavin has not written down a dream team for next year's match at Celtic Manor and will just see how events unfold.

"What the captain does is important for sure," he added, "but you can over-think this stuff.

"I can't hit the shots for them or make the ball go in the hole, but I can make sure the players have the best opportunity to play golf - a relaxed focus I call it."

Kim was involved in some controversy over allegations of late-night drinking at the recent Presidents Cup, but Pavin said: "He's a good kid and obviously a great talent, but he is a kid and we've all been young and done things we regret."