GROWL’S ABOUT THAT
Fist-pumping Poulter revives memories of Medinah with Texas win that puts him in the Masters and he declares: There’s still life in the old dog
IAN POULTER insisted there is “life in the old dog yet” after his stunning Houston Open victory saw him swap a studio for his sticks at the Masters.
The Ryder Cup legend had always been due in Augusta this week as a Sky Sports commentator – and nearly did not play in the final warm-up event after narrowly missing out on Masters qualifying in Austin.
But using his putter from Medinah, he nailed a 19-foot birdie putt on the 72nd green to force a play-off and then beat American Beau Hossler at the first extra hole in Houston to seal the last spot in the field.
The chest-thumping of Europe’s matchplay talisman showed the old Poulter was back with a bang.
“I was always going to Augusta National, it was just a case of when I was going to Augusta National,” said the 42-year-old.
“The journey continues. I’ve had 19 good years on Tour, and I guess I’ve got another couple coming.
“So there’s life in the old dog yet.”
Tiger Woods does not own the only comeback story in Georgia this week. Poulter fell to world No.207 last March despite a medical exemption and he thought he had lost his PGA
Tour card before a recount of the rankings. Then at the WGC-DELL Match Play he was wrongly told he had done enough to reach Augusta by making the quarter-finals only to miss out entering the top 50 by 0.03 of a point. Poulter nearly took last week off and shot 73 in the opening round to sit in 123rd place. But he played the final 60 holes in 21 under par to record his first strokeplay win on American soil for the best recovery in 35 years on the PGA Tour (circle, celebrating with a pizza). “Every win is extremely emotional, this one being one of the biggest emotional roller-coasters I’ve had, not knowing whether to play, packing my bags on Friday morning, and I’ve really been able to turn it around.
“This was a big win for me, and it was a big moment.
“The win just doesn’t mean getting into Augusta, there’s a lot bigger things on the horizon.
“To move up in the world ranking points is a big one, to tell Thomas Bjorn, ‘Hey, I’m here, my game’s in shape.’
“I would obviously like to be there at the Ryder Cup. I’ve got some good golf left in me.
“Now I can really kind of focus on the events I really want to play, take some rest in between, have a bit of time in Europe with the family and hopefully save enough energy come September if I make it.”