Poulter vows never to give up

Ian Poulter vows he’ll never give up in his search for US success after finishing second at TPC Sawgrass.
Ian Poulter vows he’ll never give up in his search for US success after finishing second at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.
Poulter took home a runners-up cheque for US dollars 1.026 million at The Players Championship, after finishing four shots behind Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, both players having started the day tied for second place, five strokes back on Germany’s Alex Cejka.
It was the Englishman’s second top-five finish in a row in America and the supremely confident Poulter said his father Terry had passed on a stubborn stick-to-it streak.
He said: “I’m very, very similar to him in every sport that we play, and he’s sort of ingrained that in me.
“I’m a tame version of my dad, I guess, a realistic version. He wants to beat me whenever we play pool, snooker, whatever, so he’ll keep going until every frame is over. So I guess he’s instilled some of that confidence where you never give up and you think you can achieve anything.
“It’s a very stubborn way of looking at everything, and he is very stubborn, and I guess I’ve taken some of that, and I’m using it as confidence.”
Poulter has honed that stubborn nature to benefit his golf game in his decade on tour.
He said: “It’s just the will never to give up, really. I’ve learned over the last 10 years on the golf course, I was very far in the first couple years, I was very hit-and-miss, but I’ve learned to try and use confidence in a slightly different way and to never give up.
“It was all or nothing, where now I think I’m a more consistent player and I understand myself a bit more and I understand when to attack and when to kind of back off.”
Poulter felt that having shot a 75 on Saturday he needed to make amends during the final round.
“I made a couple of key up-and-downs (on Saturday),” he said. “You know, up-and-downs on 13, 14, 15, which were unbelievable, to be honest.
“It kind of kept me in the position where I could take a bit of momentum and feel that I could go out there and make a few birdies and have half a chance of winning this golf tournament.
“My short game has been, as my caddie said, ridiculously good over the last few weeks, but that certainly kept me in the golf tournament [on Saturday]. I held it together well over the last six holes, and then I actually played well today.”
Poulter thought beating world number one Tiger Woods, who was also tied for second overnight, would be enough to land victory but he had reckoned without Stenson.
“I was thinking that if I could finish in front of Tiger, that might be good enough,” he said.
“I thought Alex would actually be under a lot of pressure. I’m surprised that he found it as tough as that.
“I felt I just had to finish in front of Tiger to win. But I wasn’t expecting someone to go out there and shoot 66.”
Latest
-
News
On this day in 2008: Ryder Cup misery in Louisville for Nick Faldo’s Europe
Faldo was heavily criticised for his tactics in the closing singles.
-
Lucas Glover edges past Patrick Cantlay to claim back-to-back Tour wins
Glover, 43, ultimately claimed victory with a par on the 18th hole playoff after Cantlay found water off the tee.
-
Lilia Vu wins second major as Charley Hull comes up short despite stunning eagle
American Vu added the Women’s Open title to her Chevron Championship.
-
Lucas Glover holds onto lead in Memphis with Tommy Fleetwood two strokes behind
Glover said it was a scrappy day but he got ‘a lot out of’ what he had.
-
Charley Hull shares lead with Lilia Vu heading into final day of Women’s Open
The pair are nine under for the tournament.
-
On This Day in 2007 – Tiger Woods claims 13th major with victory in Oklahoma
The world number one successfully defended his US PGA Championship title.
-
Ally Ewing out to emulate Brian Harman with Open win
The pair share their southern roots, passion for hunting and college teams named the Bulldogs.
-
Ally Ewing storms clear during second round of AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath
At 10 under par Ewing enjoyed a five-shot lead over compatriot Andrea Lee and Japan’s Minami Katsu.
-
Jordan Spieth leads by one after first round of FedEx St Jude Championship
England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai are the best of the British contingent, closing out Thursday on four under par.
-
Rory McIlroy delighted with Tiger Woods’ role on PGA Tour’s policy board
Woods, 47, has not played since withdrawing from April’s Masters and concedes his playing opportunities will be extremely limited going forward.