Poulter catapults to the big time

Poulter: In the big time
14 April 2012

How's this for a consummate example of the fine margins that exist between earning fantastic rewards at the top of professional golf, and middling along, searching for a break?

Three weeks ago I stood next to Ian Poulter as he waited an age for his luggage to emerge from the carousel at Madrid airport.

As a metaphor for his status in the game at that time - waiting patiently, with nothing happening - it seemed second to none.

Poulter explained his predicament. The top 50 in the world were invited to the American Express Championship at The Grove and he was 52nd. The top 72 in the US money list get invited to play in all the limited field events next year and he was 75th.

To keep your card on the US Tour you have to play 15 events, and he had played 14. By now, you will get the picture. Here was a frustrated young man in danger of losing all his privileges by fractions. While the big show was going on at the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, he was scratching around in Madrid playing in an event that wasn't on his original schedule.

Poulter was only there under force of circumstance. He wanted to earn some ranking points to get back into the top 50, and get to The Grove to play in an event that would complete his US Tour minimum allocation. That, in turn, would save him a trip back to America to play in another tournament he didn't want to play in.

Clearly he was at a crossroads, with one sign pointing the way to fantasy island and the other to journeyman city.

So what happened next? Freed of the pressure of trying to make Europe's Ryder Cup team that had played on his mind all year and affected his golf, he walked away with the Madrid Open by five shots.

That got him into last week's field at The Grove, where he finished joint runner-up behind Tiger Woods. Look at him now. Two good weeks, and there is no standing around carousels fretting about his future.

From worrying about staying in the world's top 50 and all the perks that entails, Poulter has risen all the way to 29th, and can think about looking up not down.

The $610,000 (about £320,000) he received at the Amex event vaulted him dramatically to 42nd place on the US Tour money list, and now he can play in all the American events he wants next year.

Having made it safely to the other side of the high wire, it would be no surprise if Poulter went on to win one of the three remaining events he is playing in this year.

"Whatever happens, I can relax and plan ahead," he said. "It has been a long, frustrating year but at least it is ending on a positive note."

Once a player drops out of the top 50 it is a devil of a task trying to get back in. The list is largely self-perpetuating, because many of the most lucrative events are open only to those on the inside.

By forcing the door back open, Poulter has underlined that beneath all that flash garb there is a golfer of considerable substance.

English golf might never have had it so good, with Luke Donald, David Howell, Paul Casey, and Lee Westwood all playing leading roles in the Ryder Cup. But Poulter is the one who offers something different, the player who goes beyond the golf audience and attracts the man in the street.

It is good to have him back.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in