Given his situation earlier this year, no wonder Ian Poulter looks so pleased with himself right now.
Poulter had effectively lost his card on the PGA Tour after failing to win enough points on a medical exemption for the ankle injury that caused him to miss last year’s Ryder Cup.
The reprieve for that was doubly surprising; Kimberley Gay, wife of Brian, a tour pro in the self-same situation, spotted that the PGA Tour had calculated both players’ points wrongly. Re-instated, Poulter finished second at the Players’ Championship to discard any further fears that he wouldn’t hold on to his playing rights for next season.
Since then, Poulter successfully qualified for next week’s Open at Royal Birkdale – where he has his best major finish, second to Padraig Harrington in 2008 – and opened yesterday’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open with a five-under 67, tucked in behind leader Mikko Ilonen.
“It’s better than nice, it’s lovely,” he said. “The last few months have been weird, I needed a schedule pretty much heavy in the States but obviously a big finish in The Players changes that instantly.
“So from a miserable-looking summer away from (wife) Katie and the kids, that gets turned on its head pretty quickly with one decent finish.”
He’s enjoyed returning to Europe, playing Rolex Series events, knowing that the increased prizefunds can help his goal of getting back into the World’s Top 50 while re-finding his confidence, which means he can play through small crises like he found yesterday.
“Actually, I don’t feel like I’ve hit it all that well, and I spent a bit of time yesterday on the range with Pete (Cowen),” he said.
“I got myself in a couple of spots of bother, but pretty much swung it well, put it in position and made a few putts and adds up to a nice score.
“I hit a decent 5-iron which was hit into about two-feet for a tap-in eagle, which are always nice.
“There were a couple of blemishes but apart from that, I was in play a lot. Gave myself chances, took a couple of them, rolled a couple of nice 25-footers in and there was no real drama.”
Poulter didn’t even mind the tricky gusting winds, and is relishing playing links golf again.
“This is glorious, have you seen some of the weather we’ve played in the last couple of weeks?” he said. “If you don’t hold a brolly, you’re in good form on links golf.
“But I’m not there yet. I’ve still got work to do. As good as the round was today, I’m still going to hit the range. I’m still not 100 per cent happy, and it’s a work-in-progress.”
