Havret and Jacquelin looking to storm the gates of Mission Hills

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As the people of France celebrate Bastille Day, Gregory Havret and Raphael Jacquelin are turning their thoughts to storming the gates of the Mission Hills Golf Club in China in their bid to win the 2008 Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

After representing France with honor in finishing third behind Scotland and the USA at the inaugural Omega Mission Hills World Cup last year, both Havret and Jacquelin are looking forward to the opportunity of returning to China from Nov. 27-30 and attempting to put their home nation on top of the global golfing map.

"To be a World Champion for your country is something more than golf," said Havret. "If I win a smaller tournament somewhere in the world, it doesn't mean much to people outside of the game.

"But if you win the World Cup for France then everyone will talk about it in the street, about how France are the World Champions of golf. That would be amazing -- the impact it would have would be great for the game in our country.

"I felt awesome playing for France at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup last year. It had been on my mind for a while that I would love to represent France in an event like that and it came last year. Raph and I really enjoyed it, especially because we are such good friends and came third, it was very special."

Jacquelin echoed the sentiments of his friend and countryman, believing that playing for his country elevates his game to a different level.

"I love playing for my country and being part of a team," said Jacquelin. "I love to play for France, especially with Greg last year because we had a chance to win it. We tried our best and did well and the way we worked together was fantastic because I was better in many aspects of the game playing with Greg than I am on my own!

"For us it is very important to go and play well for our country and to have the chance to become a World Champion in your sport is an amazing opportunity -- that's why we want to go back and do even better this year, to try and make France the best in the world."

The 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup launched a new and exciting era in the history of the event first played in 1953 as the Canada Cup. The event is set to continue through 2018, and most probably beyond, at Mission Hills following the signing of an agreement in January 2007 which brought the prestige watch manufacturer Omega together with the Club which introduced the game of golf to China by first hosting the World Cup in 1995.

John Jay Hopkins, the noted Canadian industrialist, brought to reality a dream that golf could promote goodwill between nations with the inaugural World Cup played in Montreal in 1953 then called the Canada Cup and re-titled The World Cup in 1967.

The International Federation of PGA Tours will, as custodians, oversee the 54th edition of the event.