Ian Poulter had a good chance of winning The Players Championship at Sawgrass last year, but ran into Henrik Stenson playing the best golf of his life.
Poulter eventually finished as a runner-up behind his Swedish Ryder Cup team-mate, but he is determined to go one better this year at a tournament regarded by the American players at least as the “fifth major”.
The Englishman has now established himself in the world’s top ten after his victory at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship and does not look out of place in such exalted company. When he says he is here to win, people have to sit up and listen. In the past, some would have scoffed.
After it was suggested yesterday that the world No 6 would have accepted a top-ten finish at The Players Championship ten years ago, Poulter was quick to dismiss such a notion. “I wouldn’t have taken that,” he said. “I’m here to win, it’s as simple as that.“If you asked me that question every single week of the year, I’m going to give you the same answer. Yes I finished runner-up last year, but I want to win golf tournaments. I feel my game is good enough to win them.”
Poulter, who has recovered from a knee injury he suffered while playing basketball at home, goes into the first round today in the company of Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan. The circus surrounding Woods can be a distraction but he is taking it in his stride. “To be honest, I don’t pay too much attention to my playing partners,” he said. “I try not to get engrossed in how they are swinging or how they are hitting the ball. Whether they are two over par, five under, seven under, I’m just out there to do my job.”
Poulter admitted he was surprised at how poorly Woods had played at Quail Hollow last week — when the world No 1 missed only his sixth halfway cut in 14 years as a professional — but suggested he would still be a threat.
“I think everybody was a little shocked last week,” he said. “But you can never write off the world No 1 at any stage. You need two shots, or an hour on the range, to find a swing thought which will get you through the week and all of a sudden you are out there winning tournaments. Whether it’s Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, those world No 1 and No 2 guys can turn it on quicker than anybody.”
Poulter also confirmed that he would not be playing at the Wales Open at Celtic Manor — venue of the Ryder Cup this year — next month because of his commitment to the PGA Tour in the United States. “I’d like to be there, but it doesn’t fit into my schedule,” he said. “I need to play a minimum of 15 events to keep my card here.”
About 50 players, agents and caddies helped Rory McIlroy celebrate his 21st birthday (and his first win on US soil) at a surprise party on Tuesday evening. Among them were Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, Sergio García, Martin Kaymer and Álvaro Quirós. Now that’s friends in high places!
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