One would have to visit a football ground rather than a golf course to discover the source of the inspiration behind Poulter’s Ryder Cup love affair.
England’s Ian Poulter won the Australian Masters, spoiling Geoff Ogilvy’s bid for a victory on his boyhood course at the Victoria Golf Club.
World number one Luke Donald will be taking part in the Australian Masters in December but Tiger Woods will not be returning to the event.
Germany’s Bernhard Langer rolled back the years with a vintage display while American Kenny Perry eked out a one-shot lead in the Players Championship second round on Friday. Langer sank a monster birdie putt from 60 feet on the treacherous 17th green en route to a sparkling five-under-par 67.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia, steadily regaining confidence in his putting, took advantage of an early tee-off time to seize a two-stroke lead in the Players Championship first round on Thursday. Seeking his first PGA Tour title in almost three years, Garcia fired a sparkling six-under-par 66 at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass.
Trevor Immelman emerged as the halfway leader at the Masters on Friday as Tiger Woods used an incredible finish to keep alive his bid for a fifth Augusta crown. Immelman, who has had an arduous recovery from surgery, birdied 17 and 18 en route to his second straight 68 and an eight-under total of 136.
Britain’s Justin Rose reeled off six birdies in eight holes to share the first-round lead at the US Masters while Tiger Woods laboured to stay in touch on Thursday. Rose shrugged off two early bogeys to fire a four-under-par 68 in bright sunshine. He launched his sizzling run at the par-three sixth before ending the day level with South African Trevor Immelman.
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/ 3 February 2008
Tiger Woods watched his 25-foot putt race down the slope and bend toward the cup, then he skipped backward and punched the desert air in celebration when it disappeared into the cup for a final birdie. So ended his spectacular charge on Sunday to win the Dubai Desert Classic over Ernie Els, a familiar victim.
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/ 23 January 2008
Retief Goosen is hoping to become the first golfer to win the European Tour’s Qatar Masters on two occasions when the 11th edition of the ,5-million event gets under way on Thursday at the picturesque Doha Golf Club. The South African responded with a confident ”You mean not yet” when told that no player has won the tournament twice since its inception.
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/ 25 November 2007
Bravehearts Scotland won their first World Cup title in dramatic style on Sunday, beating tournament front-runners the United States at the third play-off hole. Eight-time European number one Colin Montgomerie and young gun Marc Warren went one better than last year when they lost a spirit-crushing play-off to Germany.
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/ 23 November 2007
Americans Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum hit a solid three-under-par 69 to retain a one-shot lead over their more fancied rivals after the second-round foursomes at the Golf World Cup on Friday. England topped the leaderboard by two shots midway through the round, but they found the alternate-ball format more taxing and a late bogey dragged them down.
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/ 24 September 2007
Lee Westwood produced a brilliant final round of 65 to win the British Masters and become only the seventh player to reach £10-million prize money on the European Tour. Westwood (34) was in dazzling form at the Belfry on Sunday as his seven under par round gave him a five-stroke victory over Ian Poulter.