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Sweden's Hanson breaks Ryder Cup code of silence

AFP/The Local
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Sweden's Hanson breaks Ryder Cup code of silence

Swedish golfer Peter Hanson, set to play in his first Ryder Cup, ignored a gag order put in place by European team captain Colin Montgomerie and divulged details of internal discussions among the squad.

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Hanson broke Montgomerie's ban on revealing what was said inside the team room in the Welsh town of Newport on Thursday by disclosing what ailing Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros had said in his address to them on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old told the Swedish Golf Federation website that Ballesteros, who is unable to attend this Ryder Cup as he recovers from the brain operations he had after the discovery of a tumour in 2008, had made it clear what they needed to do to the American team if they were to regain the trophy.

"Go get them (the Americans) so hard that they will all be caddies in the future."

Hanson, who has recovered from a chest infection that forced him to miss the Vivendi Trophy last week, was much more discreet about what was said by Ballesteros when he addressed the media earlier on Thursday.

"That phone call we had in the team room the other day, I was impressed with how positive and how much energy there was still in that voice.

"He said a few things that we maybe shouldn't say here."

All Montgomerie had revealed on Wednesday was that 53-year-old Ballesteros had repeated the passionate captain's speech he had made at the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama which the Europeans went on to win.

"Seve is our Ryder Cup and always will be," said the 47-year-old Scot, who played in the 1997 Ryder Cup.

"I was after passion. We have enough motivation in our team room. I was just after some passion, and by God, I got it."

Montgomerie had been plagued earlier in the week by queries over whether he had banned his team from using twitter after he had been struck by some embarrassing lapses by other sportsmen - namely English cricketer Kevin Pietersen during the summer.

A clearly exasperated Montgomerie was asked on Tuesday for his final comments on what was dubbed "Twitter-gate" after England's Ian Poulter continued posting updates on the site despite a ban being announced earlier by the European captain.

"Tweeting has not been banned. Banning things is very dangerous, because, say, someone does it, how can you then say anything?" Montgomerie said.

"I thought I was the captain of a golf team, not the captain of a tweeting organisation," he added.

"Whatever they do, whatever they are, respect is shown for what is said within the team room. They can do whatever they have to do elsewhere regarding, you know, their thoughts and what have you.

"But at the same time, whatever is said within that team room stays within that team room so they respect that decision."

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