I won’t go round with a pair of pom-poms, banging a drum!
Ian Poulter, Mr Ryder Cup, is still coming to terms with his new role on the sidelines
THE greatest showman in Ryder Cup history, the fistpumper, the eye-bulger, the birdie-machine, the miracleman of Medinah, is contemplating trying to subvert nature. Ian Poulter, crowd-pleaser and rabble rouser, is doing his best to embrace the idea of a more diplomatic role when hostilities between the US and Europe resume.
Still recovering from a foot injury that ruled him out of contention for a playing position, the talisman for Europe’s team for almost a decade will not have a club in his hands on Friday at the start of the 41st staging of the competition at Hazeltine in Minnesota.
But European skipper Darren Clarke, keen to harness Poulter’s energy, positivity and feel for the event, has made him one of his five vice-captains. Watching Poulter watching the Ryder Cup may yet turn out to be one of its more outlandish elements.
We are used to seeing him as a study in the explosive release of nervous energy. Every limb and every muscle gets involved. If he denies that energy its traditional outlet, where exactly will it go? Will steam come out of his ears as he attempts a statesmanlike approach or will he just abandon the pretence and charge?
‘I am not going to go round with a pair of pom-poms and a drum, banging it,’ says Poulter as he drives one of the lesser known elements of his car collection, his wife’s white Range Rover, down a Florida interstate, ‘but I am going to be excited. I am just going to have to taper my emotions a little bit.’
Poulter, who has made a happy habit of both intimidating and enraging American opponents during past Ryder Cups, is keenly aware of the need not to become a distraction for Europe’s 12-strong side. He knows that if the adrenalin starts flowing too freely and his celebratory antics become the story, he might take focus away from the team.
But it would not make sense for Poulter to be emasculated at Hazeltine, either. Part of the reason Clarke chose him as a vice-captain alongside quieter, more cerebral men such as Padraig Harrington was because Poulter is a populist: a vocal personality who can breathe e confidence into those around nd him, especially Europe’s six rookies, and is a master at workingki the heaving galleries.
Europe’s players will have to create the shifts in momentum that win Ryder Cups themselves but Poulter’s charisma and dynamism, his infectious enthusiasm, his feel for the rhythm of the competition and his sheer love for the event are capable of turning one of those swings into an even more decisive shift. So bewitched is Poulter by the Ryder Cup, so invested in its legend and its drama, that he even bought t the police car that r rushed Rory McIlroy to Medinah in 2012 when he wasw nearly late for his singlessingle match. He thinkshi about whether suggesting he will be like a caged animal at Hazeltine is fair. ‘I guess so,’ he says. ‘It’s going to be a new role. It will be a different experience. It will be interesting to have the perspective of looking at it from the outside. It will be a new challenge.
‘Energy is a good thing, though, and at times you need momentum and that is what is key in winning Ryder Cups. I don’t know how much I am going to work the crowd. I have always had a very loud following but I have to be respectful to the players that are playing. I don’t want to cause a distraction. If guys are holing putts, I am going to feel excited for them and I am sure the emotions will come out.
‘I am not going to try to get under the skins of the US players. That is not part of the game. I am not playing so I cannot get under their skin from a playing perspective. You do that by holing putts and winning matches. You can’t try and influence anything from outside a match. I want to make sure the only influence comes from the guys who are playing. I cannot influence matches. It’s going to be a new role and a new challenge for me.
‘I can be there for support for Darren Clarke and the players. That will be very different from what I’ve done before.’
Poulter, 40, has played in five Ryder Cups and has been on the winning side four times. He was the leading points scorer in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Sometimes, it seemed the competition lent him a cloak of invincibility. He believed that and some of the Americans did, too.
At Celtic Manor in 2010, to the consternation of Tiger Woods and others, he guaranteed he would beat Matt Kuchar in the singles. ‘I will deliver my point,’ Poulter said before the match. He thrashed Kuchar 5&4. He delivered. Some of his teammates started calling him the Postman. Now Poulter is more focused on trying to stay true to the ethos of the European team that has helped them win six of the last seven Ryder Cups. ‘When I have been a player at a Ryder Cup, what has stood out for me in the vicecaptains I have played under is the willingness to lend yourself to the team. For 103 out of 104 weeks, we are playing a very selfish game. You see a lot more in people than what you have seen in the past. You create friendships for life. You find out a lot more about people’s personalities. ‘Of course, I would like to be out there playing but there is something about just being there and being able to help which is quite rewarding in a way. That is where the unselfishness of Team Europe comes in. That is what we stand for. ‘We are very proud of the record we have had. ‘We have stood together and stood shoulder to shoulder. We’ve always done a great job. We’ve had good captains and vice captains.’ Poulter, who says he is feeling refreshed after his enforced break, is relishing the prospect of returning to competition in mid-October. ‘I have got some great golf left in me,’ he says. ‘I’m excited about the challenge of coming back.’ For now, though, his sole focus is on helping Team Europe, on doing his bit to help the rookies in the team and supporting Clarke . ‘Every putt that is going in or bunker shot, you are going to feel the intensity and the emotion,’ Poulter says. ‘Hopefully, there will be plenty of fist-pumps.’