Ryder Cup will bring the best out of me again, says Ian Poulter

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/sep/03/ryder-cup-ian-poulter-wild-card

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Ian Poulter arguably needs the upcoming Ryder Cup just as much as his European team-mates need his inspirational qualities, allowing a season beset by injuries and indifferent form – the two matters are intrinsically linked – still to finish on a high for the charismatic Englishman.

There was no surprise attached to this week’s confirmation that Poulter is one of Paul McGinley’s captain’s picks for the face-off with the USA at Gleneagles later this month. But that does not mean Poulter had counted on McGinley’s call, or will take his latest Ryder Cup appearance for granted. “It’s no secret that I haven’t played as well as I would have wanted,” he admitted of his 2014 thus far. “But there have been good reasons for that, mostly a succession of niggling injuries. Now I’m looking to finish the season strongly, just like I did last year.

“I’ll really ramp it up over these next three weeks, because everyone knows how much the Ryder Cup means to me. There’s nothing like it as far as I’m concerned, nothing that comes close to getting the passion and the juices flowing like that week. That’s why I tend to play exceptionally well with a European badge on my chest.”

Poulter’s FedEx series ended in Boston on Monday, when he fell marginally short of progression to the penultimate Denver event of the lucrative play-offs. Almost immediate contact from McGinley helped to soften that blow. “Paul actually called me just as I was getting out of the car to board the plane, after the frustration of failing to get the job done at Deutsche Bank,” Poulter said. “I was annoyed at myself for not getting the one extra birdie I needed [to progress], and for just missing out on an eagle at the last, so this was just the news I wanted to cheer me up.

“It had been a very disappointing day up until that moment, because after the injury problems I’ve had I want as much competitive golf as I can get. But Paul telling me I was in the team turned it round.

He added: “. It also helped me look at the bright side of last week. I made more birdies than anybody else in the field, started to get that buzz from making putts again and I’m feeling good about my game.”

Poulter, though, will not mirror the pre-Ryder Cup plan of Lee Westwood by seeking a late entry to the Wales Open by way of UK-based preparation. “Paul asked about whether playing Celtic Manor like Lee might be a good idea,” Poulter explained. “But I’m worried the weather might be bad, that it might turn into a slog and if that happened it wouldn’t do me any good in terms of preparation.

“I’ve played a lot of golf recently and I feel I can get more done in the gym and by practising at home. I know how to prepare for a Ryder Cup and get it right. I’ve been there a few times now and my record in terms of turning up ready to play my best golf and go out there as often as the captain wants me to stacks up pretty well. I told Paul that and he said he’s got faith in me to get it right and to turn up on the 1st tee ready to play my heart out.”

Poulter accepts there is more attention towards those players – himself, Westwood and Stephen Gallacher – who did not qualify automatically for the Ryder Cup team. The associated p-word is one which history tells us Poulter revels in. “There is more pressure when you get picked rather than play your way on to the team, but let’s be honest — nobody could ever put me under more pressure than I put on myself,” he said.

“I wanted to make the team on merit, but now that I’ve been given a wild card it means I’ll have to try to find that little bit extra to show Paul was right to pick me.

“When I got picked in 2008 there was far more outside pressure because people were questioning whether I deserved a place on the team and that hasn’t happened this time.

“But when I got the pick in 2008 I just told myself I had to stand and deliver. And I’ve got to the same thing for Paul this time. I know I can handle it. And I want to play my part in another European win.”