Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6

BUENOS AIRES -- A bad case of stomach flu almost kept Mike Weir and Canada from playing at golf's World Cup.

	Weir

Weir, one of Canada's two representatives at the tournament that begins Thursday, fell ill at his home in Draper, Utah.

Canadian officials scrambled to find a new partner for Glen Hnatiuk, and the next highest-rated Canadian was Ian Leggatt.

But organizers determined that without Weir, rated No. 21 in the world, Canada did not have a player in the top 75, as required, and the country would have been disqualified.

Weir went to a Salt Lake City hospital and received intravenous fluids. On Tuesday, he was feeling better and was on a plane that night.

"They told me if Mike hadn't been able to make it, we'd be out and I'd have had to get back on a plane and go home," Hnatiuk, who had 12-hour delay getting to Buenos Aires, told the Toronto Star. "After the nightmare Sunday getting here, this would have been a really bad week."