In huge news for those dropping serious coin on the European Ryder Cup team, one of only three golfers sporting a winning record might be missing out on the matches because of illness.
Lee Westwood, the 35-year-old Englishman, is suffering from some nasty tonsillitis he was stricken with nine days ago and even though his camp is positive he'll be at Valhalla, he had to pull out of last week's European Masters and will miss this week's Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne, Germany.
No matter the speculation, Westwood's agent Chubby Chandler, who will most definitely be the lead character in the book I want to write, says he will be fine.
"Lee is slowly recovering from this illness and we are sure it will not affect his chances of taking part in the Ryder Cup," said a spokesman for Chandler's office. "There is no concern from him or us in that regard."The reason eyebrows were raised is because our main man Chubby said a week ago that he'd be back on the course in no time. As always, if there is a person to believe, it's an sports agent.
Speaking seven days ago, Westwood's agent, Chubby Chandler, played down the seriousness of the illness, describing it as a "recurring problem" and insisting that the player would fully recover within "three or four days".Even if Westwood does play, which I'm sure will be the case, it will be nearly three weeks without a competitive golf round, not exactly the way you want one of your thoroughbreds heading to the Ryder Cup. Westwood, who rocks a 14-8-3 record all-time, is the only player on Nick Faldo's squad with experience in five different Cups and would absolutely be a leader for the four rookies. If he does have to pull out, Faldo will most likely go with Martin Kaymer of Germany or North Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who just missed out on winning his first European Tour victory at just 19.
