By Eurosport | The Rundown




Carl Pettersson, after and before: Bigger really is betterSwedish golf star Carl Pettersson was one of the brightest young talents in the game a couple of years ago, but spent most of the last three years struggling for form.

He's got his mojo back now, though, with a victory in the famous Heritage Classic at the weekend at Harbour Town, one of the trickiest courses on the US Tour.

And in a move which will delight yo-yo dieters everywhere, he credited his victory to a new junk food diet that has seen him gain a pile of weight.

It turns out that when the portly Pettersson embarked upon a new diet and fitness regime a few years ago, his new body shape just simply didn't work for his golf swing.

"In '08 I had a good year. I won Greensboro that year. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do to get to the next level and fitness, and I really started working out and eating better, and I lost 30 pounds very quickly," he recalled, adding that the new physique "threw my timing off".

"That was during the off-season, and it really threw my golf game. In '09 I played terrible, I finished 150-something on the money list."

The solution? "Well, you drink 10 beers and eat a tub of ice cream before you go to bed," he chuckled after his win, and back to his old size.

Pettersson is not the first sports star to undergo an unusual body transformation to find success - though sometimes it works better than others. Here's our pick of the top 10 body shocks in sport:

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Nick Faldo: Musclebound

The English golf superstar had everything going for him in 1990: number one in the world, the Claret Jug for winning The Open sitting on his mantelpiece and the Green Jacket for winning the Masters in his wardrobe - not to mention a bank account loaded with money.

The only thing lacking was a bit of length off the tee, so he hit the gym at the end of the season and bulked up massively - not to mention incredibly quickly, discovering that his metabolism was ideal for building up his guns. "It was amazing how my body changed with such little work," he said. "I'm one of those people who, if I went into a gym, would be making Schwarzenegger movies."

The only problem? As his muscles came his previously glorious touch on the putting greens went, and Faldo's career went into a sharp decline. He slimmed down in the winter of 1991 back to his previous weight, and 1992 became one of the best years of his career.


Ronnie Lott: Fingers are for wimpsRonnie Lott: Finger amputation

The American football legend - a four-times Super Bowl winner - had the little finger on his left hand crushed in a tackle in the 1985 season. He needed a bone graft to fix the problem, but was told that he would not heal in order to play in the 1986 season. So he took the leftfield choice: Lott demanded that surgeons amputate the end of his finger to let him play on. The gamble paid off: he had one of the best seasons of his career, leading the league for interceptions and earning spots on the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams at the end of the season.

Bradley Wiggins: Skinnier winner

The British cyclist was a gold medal-winning track cycling star at the Beijing Olympics, but it was success in the Tour de France that really drove him on. He decided that he was simply too bulky - as track cyclists tend to be - to compete in the Grand Tours, so shed a stone and a half to become a lean, mean pedalling machine. Wiggins has already had his reward: he finished fourth in the Tour de France in 2009 and third in the Vuelta a Espana last year and is expected to challenge in the sport's biggest events again this season.

Simona Halep: Boob job


Before: Male fans. After: Trophies.

The Romanian tennis star has rocketed up the rankings since going under the knife three years ago to reduce her 32DD assets to a more manageable 32C. Her legion of male fans were distraught - they actually started a petition to get her to change her mind when news of the impending surgery came out - but the star herself has no regrets. And not surprising, considering that she has gone from outside the world's top 200 to inside the top 50.

"My ability to react quickly was worse and my breasts made me uncomfortable," she explained. "It's the weight that troubles me. My ability to react quickly, my breasts made me uncomfortable when I play. I don't like them in my everyday life, either. I would have gone for surgery even if I hadn't been a sportswoman."

Andrew Flintoff: Weighty problem


Freddie Flintoff shows off his newly trim physique in 2002The all-rounder had broken into the England team in 1998 despite his massive 17-stone frame, with his size prompting his 'Freddie' nickname in tribute to Fred Flinstone. He always seemed fine about it, even joking that his performance was "not bad for a fat lad" when he was named Man of the Match after an ODI against Zimbabwe.

But with the England hierarchy unhappy with his lack of fitness he was dropped in 2001. He promptly hit the gym, trimmed right down and regained his place within a year, celebrating another critical performance in a tight victory against India by pulling his shirt off and running around Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.


Andy FordhamAndy Fordham: Another weighty problem

The former darts world champion and pub landlord from Kent shed an astonishing 17 stone in 2007 - a feat he managed mainly by cutting down from 40 bottles of beer a day to none. But while he has probably extended his life by several years (if not decades) his massive weight loss completely ruined his feel on the oche and he has never again shone at the top level.