Sutton benefits from modern medicine

If Hal Sutton (right) travels to The Belfry for the Ryder Cup later this month, his baggage will include a portable oxygen machine. He opted for it in favour of surgery which he was advised had only a 20 per cent success rate.

All of which has to do with symptoms of chronic tiredness which Sutton complained of for the last 18 months. At first, he attributed it to the strain, as a 43-year-old of a tournament career and having three girls under the age of four, including two-year-old twins.

Last month, however, chest pains prompted him to seek medical advice. The upshot was the discovery that he has a complaint called sleep apnea, whereby the victim's breathing ceases for a few seconds during sleep. Apparently when these episodes occur, the brain sends a message to the heart to beat faster so as to generate more oxygen and the increased heart-beat caused Sutton to wake up.

"I was stopping breathing for eight to 10 seconds, 40 times an hour," said the player. "The bad part was that my oxygen level went down to 70 which, I'm told, is real dangerous." And what of surgery? It is quite painful, he was told, and works only in 20 per cent of people. So, the option is nightly oxygen. When taken in the context of Scott Verplank's diabetes and the recovery from lymphoma by Paul Azinger, Sutton's presence in the US team emphasises the benefits of modern medicine.

Ryder Cup countdown . . . Which players were involved in the biggest 18-hole singles' wins/defeats in the history of the tournament? Answer at bottom of column.