Poulter faces fine for England top

While Ian Poulter joked about the possibility of being fined for wearing an England top during yesterday’s proam of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, his great friend Justin Rose was pinning his colours to the links mast.

Poulter and Rose tee it up here today in the first round of the event but there can be no doubt the focus will be on next week’s Open at Carnoustie.

However, Poulter left no room for conjecture about what was on his mind when he turned up for his practice round with the Three Lions on his football shirt. When asked how much he could be sanctioned, Poulter replied with a wink: “Not enough to hurt the pocket.”

Of course, it was no surprise to find this great team player so charged up before the World Cup semi-final.

But the 42-year-old knows all about the importance of doing his links prep over the next four days before travelling north to Fife in his latest bid to break his major duck.

“The Scottish Open is a huge tournament,” he said. “But I’d be lying if I claimed that not one part of me was thinking about the Open.”

As the 2014 Scottish Open champion, Rose understands the value of this week (almost £900,000 goes to the winner) but acknowledges what is at stake just around the dogleg.

“This is a great tournament,” Rose, the world No 3, said. “I think the Irish Open is also a great tournament and I like to play one or the other before the Open.”