Poulter still in with a shout

Published:

Given how bunched the field is, the world number 24, England’s Ian Poulter, is not out of it, after two level par rounds of 72. Augusta is the sort of course where you can make up shots in a hurry, especially on Sunday; and anyone within six shots of the leaders is still in with a good shout.

Poulter usually says the key to him playing well at Augusta is getting through the difficult 5th and 7th holes; but today the key was an up-and-down from the bushes at the back of the 13th green.

After a perfect drive, he pulled his second long and left on the wind. It was almost as if he’d chosen his purple top on purpose, to blend in with the pink azaleas as – hardly able to stand straight and with little backswing – he punched it out to four feet. TV pundits said it was the shot of the tournament so far, and he then sank the putt for his third birdie of the day.

It was a round of two halves for the Englishman. He played the front nine immaculately, making birdies at the 2nd and 5th; and being out in 2-under-par 34.

But then a bogey on the 10th led to some more loose swings. After his miraculous recovery on the 13th, he had to hole a difficult 10-footer for his par on the 14th.

Then on the 15th, after a perfect drive, he inexplicably sliced his next into the crowd, dumped his 3rd in the greenside bunker, and was lucky to escape with a par. Worse was to come on the par-3 16th, when his tee shot sent 20 yards left of where he was aiming, and landed in the water, which resulted in a double-bogey.

Following him all the way was his wife, Katie, who gave birth to their fourth child, 10 weeks ago. “We’ve got all four with us down here this week,” she said. “The little one, Joshua, sleeps really well, if you put socks on him at night. I forgot last night, so he woke at 3 a.m.” Twelve months ago, Katie had to drive to Augusta from their home in Orlando, with another of their children projectile vomiting on the way over.

Ian will need to make sure young Joshua has socks on tonight, because with a good night’s sleep, he will be hoping he can post a great score early, and hope the mysterious Augusta winds get up in the afternoon.

- Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us.