I might not even try to qualify for the US Open, says Poulter

Ian Poulter has a warning for all those who fancy the resurgent Englishman to go one better at next month’s US Open than his tie for second place at The Players Championship on Sunday. Despite this dramatic upturn in fortunes, he might not even try to qualify for the year’s second major.

Poulter would have very good reason for spurning the opportunity to tee it up at Erin Hills in four weeks’ time. In the effort to resurrect his career, the 41-year-old found himself “chasing” around tournaments in the United States in a period he labelled “the toughest stretch of my career”. He was ultimately successful with his runnerup placing behind Kim Si-woo, the 21-year-old Korean who became the youngest winner of the Players. And he is determined to capitalise on the freedom this will bring.

Poulter is ready to delight the European Tour by playing in next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, an event he has skipped for the past three years.

Having risen from 197th in the world to 80th, Poulter could earn an exemption for the US Open by taking the next step back into the top 50 with a decent finish in Surrey. Otherwise, there is a 36-hole US Open qualifier at Walton Heath on the Monday after Wentworth, a proposition which hardly thrills Poulter.

“I might not even try to qualify for the US Open,” Poulter said. “If I do go play Wentworth, there are huge world-ranking points available. But I don’t know. I don’t need to be stressing about playing 36-hole qualifiers at the minute, and trying to chase stuff. I think it’s been an amazing week and now I need to assess what it means for the rest of the season.”

Poulter is understandably in flux, the speed of the change in his circumstances surprising even this ambitious character.

For almost two years, he had slipped down the rankings, sustaining a foot injury which kept him sidelined for five months last year and then, just three weeks ago, believing he had fallen just short in retaining his PGA Tour card, until a miscalculation was spotted, and he was

Sawgrass.

And while all this angst has been occurring on the course, off it has been anything but a worry-free zone. In March, he closed down his IJP design business, and there have been other problems that he wishes permitted to play at to remain private. “The last 18 months have been the toughest stretch of my career,” he said. “I’m still working through some things. But I’ve reached 75 per cent, and playing good golf takes care of a lot of that. Mindset is key to playing good golf, so this was a good week to feel relaxed and go out and play so well.”

Rory Mcilroy’s fears about his latest injury were eased by a visit to a Belfast specialist yesterday, but he is still not certain to play at the BMW PGA Championship.

The world No 2 sustained the injury at the Players, where he finished in a tie for 35th. He was concerned it was the same complaint that forced him to miss almost two months at the start of the season.

However, in a statement, Mcilroy said: “The MRI scan confirmed no new injury.”