POSTMAN HAS BAD NEWS FOR AMERICAN ROOKIES
IAN POULTER has warned America’s Ryder Cup rookies the intensity of the contest is like nothing else they have ever experienced.
The Englishman, who will be playing in the event for the seventh time this week, admits they may relish the challenge, but also feels the hosts do have ‘a lot’ of first-timers.
Half of captain Steve Stricker’s side have never played in the Ryder Cup before, although Collin Morikawa is a two-time major winner, Xander Schauffele is the Olympic champion and Patrick Cantlay won the FedEx Cup. Harris English, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler will be the other debutants at Whistling Straits on Friday.
‘Six is a lot and they’re going to find there’s a different dynamic there of standing on the first tee at a Ryder Cup,’ Poulter said.
‘They’ve all won a big tournament and it’s not that they’re going to be overly intimidated, but they’re going to feel something different, something they’ve never experienced before. Does that work in their favour against a more experienced team? We don’t know right?
‘All 12 of their team are in the top 21 in the world and they have eight of the world’s top ten. They have a strong team on paper but it’s match play. Match play gives up some of the most incredible results that we’ve seen and we will see it again in a week’s time. You always see shock results.’
Europe have three rookies in former Open champion Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger, with Lowry, Poulter and Sergio Garcia given wild cards by captain Padraig Harrington.
It is the fifth time Poulter has failed to qualify automatically but the man nicknamed ‘The Postman’ is confident he can deliver again.
‘I feel relaxed and slightly less pressure than if I hadn’t have played the way I have played,’ said the 45-year-old, who is unbeaten in Ryder Cup singles matches with five wins and one halved match.
‘I felt extremely comfortable getting a call and I didn’t feel that I shouldn’t be there in that position.’
They are strong on paper, but match play always gives up shock results