Poulter’s off to Masters after playoff

IAN Poulter delivered another big moment yesterday, this one for himself.

Down to his last putt, Poulter made a 6m birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Beau Hossler, and then he won the Houston Open with a par on the first extra hole to earn the final berth in the Masters.

A week after he was mistakenly told he had a place at Augusta National through his ranking, he left no doubt by winning with a clutch moment reminiscent of his Ryder Cup heroics from Medinah in 2012.

“I had to dig deep,” said Poulter, who closed with a five-under 67. Hossler, who also shot 67, overcame a three-shot deficit with four straight birdies on the back nine.

He had a chance to win on the 18th with a 9m birdie putt that trickled over the right edge of the cup.

It set the stage for the 42-year-old from England, who lived up to his nickname as “The Postman”, by delivering his biggest putt in years. Poulter pounded his chest five times when the putt dropped, and all Hossler could do was smile.

“I did think I’d made it,” Hossler said. “But it hung out there. I gave Ian the perfect read (for him) to make his putt. I knew he was going to make it.” They finished at 19-under 269.

Poulter’s third win on the PGA Tour was his first in the US since the Match Play in 2010 at Arizona.

The timing could not have been better.

When he reached the quarterfinals of the Dell Technologies Match Play last weekend in Austin, he was told it was enough to get him into the top 50 in the world ranking, the cutoff for qualifying for the Masters.

It turned out he needed to win his quarter-final.

“Last week was painful,” Poulter said. “To come here this week, I was tired. I was frustrated on Thursday . . . I was patient. I waited my time. And this is amazing.”

The pair finished three strokes ahead of Jordan Spieth whose closing 66 saw him secure third place with Argentine Emiliano Grillo.

Matt Jones was best of the Australians, shooting a final round fourunder-par 68 to finish tied 52nd.