‘Strutting’ Poulter in prime form

THE bounce is back. The springy march, the determined striding after putts, simply commanding them to drop… you could tell from a mile off that Ian Poulter, the real Ian Poulter, was rampaging around Royal Birkdale in a better-than-par score yesterday.

‘I wasn’t aware I was a strutter,’ said Poulter, grinning when told that no less a judge than Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn had tipped him for Open glory this week.

Bjorn’s description of the Englishman ‘strutting around a bit more’ and ‘getting just a little louder’ over recent weeks would have rung true to any who saw him here.

Clad in striking white and imperial purple, he wasn’t quite imperious. Few were on a day when beastly Birkdale sank its teeth into the best golfers on the planet.

But there were moments when Poulter was glorious. Occasionally ragged, frequently dicing with death, he had the home galleries hooked.

And, after he signed for a 67, the man with the fearsome Ryder Cup record declared himself ready to contend over the next three days.

Part of his confidence is rooted in the knowledge that, having come through final qualifying at his home club of Woburn, he is well prepared to shoulder the burden of local favouritism.

‘Trying to qualify for this is a big deal,’ he said. ‘For it to be in your home club with several thousand turning out to watch was amazing.

‘I felt a bit of pressure to make sure I took one of those three spots.

‘This week, a lot of people have come up and said: “Well done for playing the qualifier”. If you’re in a position to try to qualify for the best event in the world, then you should make the effort to go and do it.

‘They are giving three spots away, so there is a great opportunity to get in this championship— and go on and, hopefully, win it.’

Ah, the prospect of Poulter actually winning the damned thing. Ending his wait for a major title. Even on a leaderboard packed with proven winners, only a fool would discard a competitor of Poulter’s pedigree.

He’s in good form, despite a final-round slump from contention to finish tied ninth in last week’s Scottish Open. And, having opted to work for TV at last year’s Open after failing to make it as a player, he is relishing every minute.

‘I’m definitely playing with a bit more confidence,’ he said. ‘I’m a freer player. I can be more aggressive.’

Poulter showed plenty of that yesterday, even if he did talk about having plotted his way around the course in an eve-of-battle strategy session, complete with yardage book.

On a wintry July morning, at three minutes past eight, he put his plans into action. Runner-up here in 2008, he looked like a man on a mission. And the crowds seemed to know it.

By the time he was parading in front of the new ‘terracing’ stands at the fourth green, he was being greeted by cries of: ‘It’s your year, Poults!’. He was in the lead at this stage. Feeling bulletproof as even daunting putts to save par were rolled in with ease.

Poulter moved to two under par on the ninth... and then produced one of the most important shots of the round. Maybe the most crucial blow he’ll strike all week.

Standing 65 yards short of the par-four tenth green, about to play his third shot after a calamitous blow from the tee had left him scrambling for position, Poulter looked dead set to drop a shot. But he drilled the most beautiful low sand wedge through the wind to within inches.

He nearly holed a bunker shot for an eagle on 17, accepting that tap-in birdie to move to three under, and enjoyed getting up and down from a green-side bunker on the last.

The ovation afforded Poulter by the galleries gathered around the 18th green was warm and heartfelt.

Merely a taster of what he might enjoy on Sunday? He’s certainly walking the walk.