Poulter sets sights on Ryder Cup appearance
Ian Poulter has his eye on a cup in September and it’s the one that doesn’t pay a dime.
Poulter certainly cares about the FedEx Cup, which starts with getting to the Tour Championship for a shot at the $10-million bonus. But he’ll be spending most of his summer at home in England playing on the European Tour, which will cost him in the standings.
What matters is playing in the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2014.
“There’s an event late September (the Ryder Cup) which means a lot to me and obviously I’m going to want to put myself in that position,” Poulter said. “I’m going to base myself in Europe for the summer. I’ll come back and play U.S. Open and I want to stay in that top 30 and I want to move up. But I’m not looking at it that I have to do it. I’ve put too much emphasis on that in the past trying to make push-and-runs to get in.”
It’s easy for Poulter to say it’s not important to make the Tour Championship because he’s never made it there. He was never closer than in 2009, when he hit into the water on the 18th hole at Cog Hill and wound up finishing 31st in the FedEx Cup by less than half a point.
“I get enough abuse from the week in, week out that I’ve never made it there, so if I don’t make it, I don’t make it,” Poulter said. “But I would like to play, obviously, in the Ryder Cup in September.”
The Players Championship last year started his revival.
Poulter thought he had lost his PGA Tour card when he failed to make enough money playing on a medical exemption. He got through on a clerical error and then tied for second at the TPC Sawgrass, which was worth $924,000. He wound up 46th in the FedEx Cup.
Then, he won the Houston Open this spring for his first PGA Tour title in more than five years.
“I definitely think it was a huge part of 2017 for me,” he said.
Justin Thomas has his fourth and by far the best crack at reaching No. 1 in the world. Because of the way points are gradually reduced over the two-year period, he already is projected to reach No. 1 heading into the week.
Dustin Johnson, No. 1 for the last 15 months, will stay there with a victory or runner-up finish (provided Thomas doesn’t win) and there are other scenarios. But if Johnson finishes worse than 11th, he’ll yield the top spot.
Jon Rahm (No. 3) can reach the top with a victory, provided Johnson and Thomas are outside the top three. He also has a slim chance to get there as runner-up. Jordan Spieth (No. 4) faces a similar scenario. If he were runner-up alone, Thomas would have to finish outside 60th and Johnson at 12th or worse.
The longest shot belongs to Justin Rose (No. 5). He would have to win and have Thomas finish outside the top 46, along with Johnson finishing about 10th or worse.