Poulter beats world No1
He required a wild card from Europe team captain Thomas Bjorn to be in France at all, found himself benched for the opening fourballs on Friday morning, and then hit his first tee shot on Friday afternoon straight into the water. But when it really mattered, of course, Ian Poulter came through in time-honoured, chest-thumping style.
In one of the most dramatic of yesterday’s singles matches, the man dubbed The Postman, because he always delivers, won two up against Dustin Johnson.
On a see-sawing afternoon the Europe hero – who has now won six out of the seven Ryder Cups in which he has competed, taking his record to won 14, drawn two, lost six – reached the turn one up, only to go one down after 12 holes, and then claw it back again.
Poulter missed an eight-foot putt to tie things up on the 17th, meaning that the match went to the final hole.
The Englishman was nerveless down the 18th, hitting a perfect tee shot, reaching the heart of the green with his second and then, after Johnson had narrowly failed to make a 30ft birdie putt, recording a birdie of his own to earn rapturous applause from the galleries, who he acknowledged with trademark chest thumps.
After hugging his tearful son Luke, who as a baby in 2004 was hit on the head with the lid of the Ryder Cup after it fell off on the flight home, Poulter proceeded to cavort around the 18th green dressed in a red fancy dress postbox that had been given to him by a fan.
“I might go and deliver some letters around Lake Nona in it when I get home,” he joked in the press conference later, adding that he really wanted to get it framed.
“Poults frames everything,” chimed in Justin Rose.
The 42-year-old, who famously came through at Chesfield Downs in Hertfordshire, where he was an assistant in the pro shop, added: “You know, this is a special team. A young bunch of kids.
“I was fortunate to get a picked as an old man to come and play, and you know what, I helped out a little bit.
“To bring this trophy back; to keep that run going the way we have. You know, we’re a strong force in Europe.
“We knew we were the underdogs and that made us even more determined.”