Golf:Peter Hanson's participation in this week's Vivendi Cup is in doubt after the Ryder Cup newcomer came down with an illness. The Swede said today he may pull out of the event in order to be fully fit for next week's match against the Americans.
The 32-year-old, along with Padraig Harrington the only member of the European team in the field, arrived for this week's pro-am event on the outskirts of Paris complaining of a chest infection and a fever.
"I could feel it yesterday and I'm a little worse today," Hanson said this afternoon. "It's not the ideal way to prepare so I'll try to treat it and see the doctor and hopefully I'll be ready to play tomorrow morning.
"If I don't feel well tomorrow I will probably withdraw. That's more to do with next week because if I feel as bad as I do now, there is no point being out here and wasting all that energy instead of trying to feel better come next week."
Hanson is back on the European Tour for the first time since he finished 19th at the Johnnie Walker Championship in Scotland at the end of August.
Since then the Swede has been preparing for his Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor in Wales next week.
Harrington aims to put an even bigger smile on European captain Colin Montgomerie’s face. Montgomerie has seen nearly half of his team — Ross Fisher, Martin Kaymer (twice), Peter Hanson, Edoardo Molinari and Miguel Angel Jimenez — win titles since the start of last month.
He has also had the boost of Lee Westwood, his star man, declaring himself fit after months battling with a torn calf muscle. Now Harrington, regarded by some as lucky to have been given a wild card, is in Paris looking to end over two years without a Tour victory.
For the first two rounds of the Vivendi Cup at Golf de Joyenval the Dubliner will have his brother Fergal alongside him, the tournament being conducted as a pro-am over two courses until it reaches its halfway point.
“Monty has picked me for my experience and, of course, after getting a pick you’re always going to be keen to do it justice,” stated Harrington. “There’s a lot of stuff you could do behind the scenes as well that are important during the week. That’s every bit part of being in a team environment.
“You say the right things and do the right things and help people out as much as you can.”
Harrington, who added the event to his schedule after falling out of the FedEx Cup play-off series in America, failed to win a cup game in both the 2006 win at The K Club and the defeat in Louisville two years ago.
That week came just after he had lifted the British Open and USPGA in under a month, and he admits: “I was flat then. Whatever happens this time I don’t think I’m going to be flat. I’m hoping for the Ryder Cup to be my peak this year. I’m working towards that and definitely there’s a sense of expectation.
“There’s definitely more pressure, but pressure brings a bit more adrenaline, more nerves, more focus.”