POULTER’S SUPER KID
British teen protege makes US Open
YOU’LL know all about Ian Poulter’s astute judgment when it comes to gleaming Ferraris. He’s clearly not bad, either, when it comes to predicting the next youngster destined for a life in the golfing fast lane.
Poults only needed nine holes in Sam Horsfield’s company four years ago before coming out with an amazing verdict. ‘He is without doubt the finest young golfer I have ever seen,’ he said at the time, of the then 14-year-old.
‘He already hits the ball as far as me and when he turns pro he is going to be the real deal.’
Well, Horsfield hasn’t made that leap just yet but after what happened during a dramatic qualifier for the US Open at the Bear’s Club in the Sunshine State yesterday, don’t be surprised if it’s not too long before Poulter’s fellow pros start referring to him as Mystic Meg.
There were 70 players chasing just four spots in the field for the season’s second major next week. Those seemed impossibly long odds for a raw 18-year-old Englishman — particularly when that number included former world No 1 Luke Donald and a man who was good enough to make a play-off for the Masters a decade ago in Chris DiMarco.
But Horsfield played so well he followed up an opening round of 72 with a 69 to finish just a stroke off the leading score. Only trouble was, there were three players tied on the leading mark, including Donald, and one other on Horsfield’s total. It meant a play- off, then, for the last spot in the field for Chambers Bay, near Seattle.
Imagine how nerve-racking that would have been? Not for Poulter’s protege.
Indeed, he looked like Poulter with a must-make putt at the Ryder Cup the way he casually knocked in a 20ft birdie putt at the first extra hole to seal his spot.
As you can imagine, Poulter led the plaudits on Twitter, telling his near two million followers: ‘ Congratulations to Sam on qualifying for the US Open. It wasn’t going to be long before you made it. I look forward to playing with you.’
Horsfield has played all his golf in Florida since his dad Tony — a glazier — decided to pursue the American dream and move the family across the Atlantic when his son was just four. Sam was already showing promise when he teamed up with Poulter for the first time at the latter’s home club, Lake Nona.
Poulter thought it only fair to give Horsfield four shots, to give the lad a chance. ‘He proceeded to play the nine holes in three under and if he hadn’t missed a couple of short putts, he would have beaten me five and four!’ recalled Poulter.
The prediction he would subsequently make on the strength of those nine holes would have weighed heavily on many a 14-year-old, but Poulter clearly saw something in Horsfield that meant it would spur him on rather than prove a burden.
Two years later, Horsfield won the Florida State Amateur by no fewer than 11 shots and followed that by shooting a 61 in a qualifier for the US Public Links Championship. ‘I told you he was the real deal,’ Poulter reminded his Twitter coterie. ‘He would embarrass every English amateur in the world by a mile.’
Horsfield is now up to 25th in the world amateur ranking and hopes to represent Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup at Royal Lytham & St Annes in September.
Naturally, he can’t wait for next week and the chance to play with the elite on a links course that reportedly evokes some of the great Open layouts in the UK, like Lytham. ‘It will be a fantastic experience for me at Chambers Bay,’ Horsfield admitted. ‘I’ve played all my golf here in America, so I’m looking forward to playing links golf.’
So is Donald, after the rather sobering experience of having to play in a qualifier for a major for the first time in over a decade.
It helped that it was held on a course where he has a home but even so, the 37-year-old showed commendable patience to book his place.
‘I’m hoping it will prove a stepping stone to get my game back on track,’ he said.
For Horsfield, it will be another stepping stone towards the life he always dreamed about. Not to mention fulfilling the Poulter prophecy.