Poulter happy with birdie-birdie finish

England’s Ian Poulter finished Thursday’s first round of the 140th Open happy to have broken par.
England’s Ian Poulter finished Thursday’s first round of the 140th Open with three-bogey, four-birdie 69, declaring that he would have been unhappy if he hadn’t broken par.
This because he believed he had played good golf and didn’t deserve to have posted a higher score than the one his two late birdies rewarded him with.
“I’m happy with the finish,” said the 35-year-old of his 69.
“It would have been disappointing to finish today over par with the shots that I executed on the golf course.I couldn’t have asked to hit the ball any better.”
There were two or three bogeys and couple of par saves, he said, but apart from that it was pretty goof stuff.
“The way I’ve played and the shots I’ve hit – and the tough shots I hit – I’m very happy. I definitely think I’ve got a chance if I play like I did today.
“I don’t feel the need to go to the range to do any work.”
Poulter is four behind early clubhouse leader Thomas Bjorn and the Englishman was not surprised someone had carded a 65.
He was a little frustrated, however, that it was not him on top of the leaderboard.
“If I had holed a few putts today I would have felt pretty happy walking off the golf course five under par to be honest,” he added.
“I think I had my chances to get to that number. I actually felt it (a 65) was there.”
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