It came as a surprise in moving towards row 30 on United Flight UA 1177 from Newark to Cleveland to find Sweden’s Peter Hanson sitting in seat 30H.
We both had just arrived into Newark Airport with Peter jetting in from Copenhagen while I had travelled direct from Edinburgh.
Hanson had been competing last weekend in the Schuco Open at Gut Kaden in Hamburg where countryman Henrik Stenson posted a seven under par 66 to edge out Spain’s big-hitting Alvaro Quiros.
I had been allocated seat 30F and with no one in seat 30G it meant enjoying Hanson’s company for the short flight to Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, and then also just a short drive south to down I-77 to Akron, Ohio and the location of this week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational.
The people you meet flying from Newark to Cleveland - Sweden's Peter Hanson and looking for two good weeks in the States to cement his place in the European Ryder Cup team. (Photo - www.golfbytourmiss.com) NB: Photo taken on landing in Cleveland with cabin crew indicating passengers could use mobile phones.
But while Hanson was very much looking forward to teeing-up on the Firestone Country Club course for a third straight year, foremost on the mind of the Swede was cementing his place in Jose Maria Olazabal’s European side.
Hanson, who made his Ryder Cup debut in 2010 at Celtic Manor, is currently lying eighth on the points table and just marginally ahead of good friend Martin Kaymer of Germany and Spain’s Sergio Garcia.
“The top seven on the qualifying table – Rory (McIlroy), G Mac (Graeme McDowell), Justin Rose, Paul Lawrie, Francesco (Molinari) and then Luke (Donald) and Lee (Westwood) are near certainities to make the team,” said Hanson.
“Then there’s myself, Martin (Kaymer) and Sergio (Garcia) at eight, nine and 10 with Nicolas Colsaerts and Ian Poulter 11 and 12, so it’s all going to come down to these two weeks here in the States as to who qualifies for the team.
“I’m under pressure from Martin and Sergio but then I know if I have a good two weeks over here I should be fine, and after being in the winning team two years ago I very much want to be a member of Jose Maria’s side going to Medinah.
“And if so, I won’t play the Johnnie Walker Championship at Glenagles and instead take the week off and then come back to contest the back-to-back European Masters and KLM Open ahead of the Ryder Cup.
“The good aspect is there is no halfway cut in this week’s Bridgestone Invitational so there’s guaranteed money and guaranteed Ryder Cup points.
“There’s there the PGA Championship and again huge Ryder Cup points.
“I love the Firestone course, the practice facilities and everything about the tournament. I finished eighth two years ago and was just a place outside the top-20 last year.
“But if I don’t play well over these two weeks then I will play at Gleneagles as that’s the final qualifying event.”
Hanson rightly pointed out the current top-10 on the European Ryder Cup points table all enjoy prior Ryder Cup experience that will be a big plus for Olazabal.
However Hanson also believes Olazabal will go with past Ryder Cup players when he comes to announce his two ‘wildcard picks’ on Monday 27th August and the day after the Johnnie Walker Championship.
“It’s going to be difficult for someone like Nicolas Colsaerts as he’s only rookie,” said Hanson.
“He’s just two places outside the 10 on the qualifying table and Jose Maria will want to take experienced Ryder Cup players with him to Medinah and that could go against Nicolas, so his best bet is qualifying automatically.
“And I hope Nicolas does qualify for the team as he would be a great asset and besides, if you look at one player among the top-12 who has performed consistently well all year and it’s been Nicolas.
“But then if he doesn’t make the team automatically you would have to think Jose Maria will more than likely choose Poulter and maybe (Padraig) Harrington.”
And Hanson believes Olazabal’s likely choice of vice-captains will be Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, Ireland’s Paul McGinley and Spanish compatriot, Miguel Angel Jimenez.
FOOTNOTE –
And what do golfers read while flying at 39,000 feet to a tournament?
Of course, a golf magazine.
In this case, Hanson was flicking through the pages of the current edition of Swedish Golf Digest and intersted to read the big feature preview on the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
