After spending all of Tuesday shivering in bed, Henrik Stenson hauled himself to the golf course, hit some balls, played one hole, conceded his match and walked away $45,000 richer.

From Jason Sobel’s live blog of the Accenture Match Play Championship:

Ben Crane just won in record time. He played one hole against Henrik Stenson, before the 2007 champion withdrew with flu-like symptoms.

Why did Stenson even play one hole rather than just WDing beforehand? Take a wild guess.

If he had withdrawn before the round, Stenson would not have been paid for his troubles. But since he went one hole, he takes a T-33 result and last place money of $45,000.

Not a bad payday. Now we wonder why golf gets a bad rap. But the poor guy shouldn’t be punished just because he caught a bug. I mean, when players in other major sports are sidelined with an injury, they still get paid, right?

I say Stenson should donate his “earnings” to charity.

[Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images]