THE BIG MAN IS BACK IN TOWN
Ian Poulter, who missed the last Ryder Cup, can’t wait to get those eyes bulging again
Don’t expect Ian Poulter to mark his return to the Ryder Cup this week by imploring the crowd to cheer as he plays his opening tee shot. He might have done so in the past, but this edition is an entirely different ball game.
‘Could you imagine anyone trying it this time?’ he says, laughing. ‘Have you seen that enormous grandstand around the first tee? I think it’s about 15 miles from the course to the centre of Paris and if Bubba Watson or anyone tries it, there will be a tremor felt at the top of the Eiffel tower. Believe me, if it does happen it won’t be anyone from the European side who does it. We know it’s going to be loud enough anyway.’
It is probably an exaggeration to say that the Ryder Cup didn’t really feel like the Ryder Cup last time without those bulging Poulter eyes and fist- pumps against his chest.
But, if you’re of a European persuasion, it’s not much of one.
now he’s back, following a stupendous return from a serious loss of form stemming from injuries and the intervention of unkind fate when his mum theresa suffered an aneurism (thankfully, she has now fully recovered, and will be at this year’s match).
Poulter’s recovery really began 18 months ago, at a PGA dinner in London where, in front of 1,000 people, he was honoured for his contribution to the game.
He was asked: ‘Are we going to see you win again and are you going to be at the Ryder Cup in France?’ Poulter chortled to himself. He thought momentarily about the fact that he was just returning after five months away with a nasty arthritic toe injury. He had fallen to 184th in the world and there appeared a serious danger that his time as an elite player was over. Did that influence his response?
What do you think? ‘of course I’ll be there,’ Poulter told the audience, to raucous cheers. ‘I will win again and I will be back playing at the Ryder Cup.’
He seems almost offended when I ask if there was any sense he was playing to the crowd. ‘of course not,’ he said. ‘I believed it 100 per cent. Sure, there was an enormous road to travel to get from where I was to where I am, but I knew it was achievable. there’s a lot of self-drive in there, you know.’ there aren’t too many sporting superstars who will talk on the phone at 7am but, with two of his four kids sent on their way to school and the first cup of tea of the day brewed, Poults was happy to chat about the event that has come to define his professional life.
It certainly wasn’t a coincidence that the moment he crossed the line and knew he was in the team, he played his two worst tournaments of the year.
‘I’m certainly going to have to sit down after the Ryder Cup and reset all of my goals, so I can attack the next two years,’ he said. ‘once I’d made it, it was like my brain switched off completely. But the great thing about missing the last FedEx event was an extra week at home to relax and prepare. now I’m ready.’
this will be Poulter’s sixth Ryder Cup but his first since 2014, when his relish at a famous European victory at Gleneagles was tempered slightly by the fact he was far from at his best. ‘ Yeah, it wasn’t a great one, personally,’ he admitted. ‘It was a fantastic win that I’m super-proud of, but I was masking a left shoulder injury and playing poorly going in, so it was a difficult week on a personal level not being able to contribute much.’
Has it left any sense of unfinished business? ‘I don’t think it would do me much good thinking like that,’ he said.
‘I’d prefer to look on my body of Ryder Cup work as a whole. the first one I played in 2004 I didn’t do much, but there were three in the middle where clearly I did my bit. So, looking at them all, I have to be proud of what I’ve done.’
there’s every hope this will be another of his great ones. At 42, he’s playing as well as ever to rise from his lowly position in the rankings to the fringes of the top 30.
‘I’m certainly feeling a lot better about this one than in 2014,’ he said. ‘Everything is trending in the right direction. My game is in fine shape, I’m in the right state of mind, so everything is good.’ Has missing out last time increased the excitement levels? ‘Well, I’m certainly a lot more excited than I was being an assistant captain in 2016!’ he said, chuckling.
‘You do what you can to help but there’s nothing like playing. I’m not sure I could be more excited than I’ve been in the past. Is that even possible? But it’s on the same level. I’m determined to enjoy it and embrace it, because I know how thankful I am to have another opportunity.
‘I think this is going to be perhaps the best-ever Ryder Cup as well, when you look at the venue. Can you imagine that scene around the first tee on Friday morning? or around the 18th, with those huge banks and the amount of people they can accommodate? I can’t wait.’
one of the things Poulter is looking forward to is his evolving role in the team room. ‘You look at our line-up and it’s almost equally split between players who have competed in a lot of Ryder Cups and the young blood,’ he said. ‘ So yes, I’m one of the older generation whose responsibilities include preparing the rookies.
‘I have to say, though, there’s only so much you can do. It’s very difficult to explain to a member of the public what it means to play in a Ryder Cup and even more difficult to get it across to a player.
‘It’s impossible to quantify what goes through the body and mind, and how that feeling never changes from the first tee until you finish the match. But they soon get it. It’s like, “oh, so now I know what you were on about”.’
What’s his prediction for the 42nd Ryder Cup? there’s a pause on the other end of the phone.
‘In all honesty, it’s a coin toss,’ he said. ‘on paper, America are the stronger side and will be the favourites, but we know we’ve won so many in Europe in a row, so that suggests a close affair.
‘Inevitably there will be a lot of give and take but the side who win will be the one who maintains a level of momentum the longest. I will say this: I do think we’ve got a great chance.’
It comes as no surprise to learn that Poulter is planning on being one of the first to arrive at Le Golf national this morning. Indeed, it’s a wonder he’s not opening the gates. the main man is back and the Ryder Cup feels like the Ryder Cup once more.
‘I’m not sure I could be more excited than I have been in the past. Is that even possible?’