No one better on a mission
Euan McLean
NO wonder Ian Poulter was so desperate to make the field for the most hotly-anticipated Masters in decades.
But there’s a big difference between wanting something and actually having the desire to go to extraordinary lengths to make it happen. And few people epitomise the latter quite like Poulter. When he’s in the mood that is.
Remember how we laughed all those years ago when he boldly declared in a magazine interview that when he was at his best it was just him and Tiger Woods. Head and shoulders above the rest.
Ludicrously arrogant as it still sounds, you can’t help watching his staggering dash to grab the last ticket to Augusta on Sunday and wonder just how special Poulter could have been had he been able to keep the bit between his teeth every week.
Because to a certain extent he was right. When he is in the zone there is little you can do against Poulter.
Many an American Ryder Cup player would testify to that having blinked first when faced by the bulging eyes of Poulter in combat mode.
In that frame of mind he is arguably the most irrepressibly driven character in the game, a force of nature who isn’t beaten until the last putt drops.
Sunday’s surge to victory at the Houston Open was a classic example of that.
No other golfer in PGA Tour history has come from so far back on day one to be crowned winner by Sunday.
Mentally most golfers would have been packing their bags in preparation for a sharp exit to the airport on Friday after a 73 to trail in 123rd. Not Poulter. Not when he had a dream to chase.
After the kick in the teeth of the previous week at the WGC Dell Matchplay – when incorrectly told he’d amassed enough ranking points to qualify – Poulter turned his disappointment into a cause.
Precisely the kind of motivation upon which he thrives. Cue rounds of 64, 65 and 67, signed off in style with a 20ft birdie on the 72nd hole to force a play-off with leader Beau Hossler.
In that kind of mano-a-mano duel it was inevitable Poulter would prevail. This is by no means the first time he has responded to a kick in the teeth by coming out swinging.
Last May, after a couple of years blighted by injury, he lost his PGA Tour card only to be given a reprieve due to a miscalculation in the ranking points.
Within a fortnight he’d grabbed that lifeline with both hands, with a second-placed finish in the flagship Players Championship at Sawgrass.
Now another miraculous recovery has earned Poulter another ticket to the big stage.
What a story it would be if the guy gatecrashing the party just before the doors slammed shut was to end up becoming the life and soul.
But then again, just look through the names of serious contenders and there’s a litany of potential tales for the ages.
Tiger Woods back in the hunt, resurgent former champs Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy in winning form again and swooping in largely under the radar for a change as he strives to win the only Major still to elude him.
World No.1 Dustin Johnson is similarly free of the spotlight fixed firmly upon him this time last year when no one could see anyone stopping him.
Who knew it would only take a flight of stairs to scupper his challenge, after a nasty fall on the eve of the tournament.
Let the mouthwatering Masters begin.