Poulter pushes Kim all the way in Players’ showdown
Englishman shoots 71 in thrilling final round Miracle shot on 18th not enough for victory
Ian Poulter played one of golf ’s great shots on the 18th here yesterday to ensure that he finished in a tie for second place at The Players Championship. It was not enough to beat Kim Si-woo – the 21-year-old Korean who became the youngest winner of this event – but with this performance the 41-year-old has surely relaunched his career.
Two weeks ago, Poulter was not even in this field, having apparently lost his PGA Tour card. But then, thanks to a miscalculation by the PGA Tour and the eagle eye of a fellow player’s wife, he learnt that he had earned enough points to retain his playing privileges.
Poulter arrived in Ponte Vedra determined to make the most of his reversal in fortunes and did so in spectacular style with a sevenunder total and a cheque for more than £700,000, which confirms his playing privileges for next year.
It looked to be turning into a nightmare on the 18th hole, when he shanked his approach shot into a bush behind the trees. One shot ahead of the South African, Louis Oosthuizen, who was waiting on the tee behind, Poulter seemed certain to sacrifice second. But after taking a drop, he played an outrageous shot from the pine straw over the trees and to within 18 inches. Seve Ballesteros himself would have blushed.
“It was one of the worst shots, followed by something pretty good,” Poulter said with uncharacteristic understatement. “It has been a tough 18 months. I played well under pressure today. I’m enjoying my golf. Hopefully, this is just a stepping stone.”
Only Kim, the world No 75, proved superior. The Seoul prodigy became the youngest player to qualify for the Tour at the age of 17 and he fulfilled all of that potential, and more, by joining some exclusive company in the record books. In the past 25 years, only Tiger Woods, Sergio García and Jordan Spieth have also managed to notch up two victories on the Tour before turning 22. Kim’s 69, the only bogey-free round the day, for a 10-under total and a three-stroke triumph, was fully deserving of that honour.
However, credit must go to Poulter, who had failed to record a single top-10 finish in more than a year. This was a high-quality 71 from the Englishman, as indicated by the fact that he went 39 holes without a bogey, until a sloppy three-putt on the 12th.
On a course this tough and in these windy conditions that was a remarkable achievement and one which should show his many critics on social media that, although plummeting to 197th in the world rankings, he is not yet finished. To help understand how tricky Sawgrass was, consider that the defending champion, Jason Day, and England’s Olympic winner, Justin Rose, both recorded 80s.
Poulter admitted that his reinstatement to the Tour had been a “total game-changer”. It was thanks to the diligence of Brian Gay, and, more to the point, his wife Kimberly, that Poulter was handed this lifeline. The Tour had made an error with the number of Fedex Cup points allotted to those on medical exemptions and so the playing privileges of Gay and Poulter were restored.
A dream comeback win – which would have been Poulter’s first for almost five years – appeared to be on when he birdied two of his first seven holes. However, it was the 18-footer he made for par on the ninth that lit his Ryder Cup fire. He greeted it with a fist-pump all-too familiar to the US galleries, but even they could not resist cheering.
There was another birdie on the 11th, courtesy of a fine up and down, but then came the three-putt. By then Kim had opened up with three birdies on the front nine and it became clear that the young man would not be making any errors, not even under this pressure, or on this wicked Pete Dye layout. Kim must now be seen as an member of golf ’s inexorable youth movement. The swing is a thing of beauty, as is the putting touch, but the nerve he showed in parring each hole of the back nine, including the notorious island-green 17th, identify him as a supreme competitor.
In a tie for fourth alongside the American Kyle Stanley came the Spaniard Rafael Cabrera Bello, whose 70 included that rarest of birds – an albatross. It was the first time, in more than 15,000 Players rounds, that the par-five 16th had yielded a two, For good measure, he made a two on the 17th and holed from off the green on the 18th for a par, after driving into the water.
Earlier, Rory Mcilroy’s week came to a disappointing conclusion with a double-bogey six on the last in a closing 75, which left the world No 2 on two over and outside the top 30.