Second-place finish good enough for Ian Poulter
Ian Poulter didn’t win The Players Championship Sunday. But he left the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course with something almost as important – peace of mind.
A “lovely” shank on the final hole couldn’t erase the smile from the Englishman’s face. He already had accomplished what he needed with a second-place finish, knowing his PGA Tour playing privileges are now good for the remainder of the year.
Two weeks ago, Poulter was told he wasn’t qualified for more exemptions into PGA Tour events, much less a spot in the Players field. Kimberly Gay, wife of fellow pro Brian Gay, found the Tour miscalculated the numbers to remain exempted. The Tour went over its data and agreed, and in the process realized Poulter also met the criteria to retain his Tour card.
Given new life on the golf course, Poulter embraced a game that had been confounding him. In addition to playing a numbers game with the Tour for more than a year, he hadn’t posted a top-10 finish anywhere in the world in more than a year.
“I think when I sit back and reflect on this week, I’ve played with less pressure,” Poulter said. “I’ve played probably with a little smile on my face. I’ve had a lot of fun.
“I guess it’s been a roller coaster ride. There’s been a lot of interesting things happen in the last 18 months which haven’t been very helpful for playing golf.”
After spending the morning walking the beach and looking for sharks’ teeth with his family, Poulter started the final round tied for fifth, three shots behind J.B. Holmes and Kyle Stanley. Birdies at Nos. 2, 6 and 11 put him one stroke behind eventual winner Si Woo Kim.
A three-putt bogey at 12, a routine par at the accessible par-5 16th and a wayward shot at the closing hole ended his chances – especially since Kim played bogey-free in the final round.
A closing 1-under 71 left Poulter tied with Louis Oosthuizen tied for second at 7-under, a $924,000 payday. And even a shank on the second shot at 18 didn’t devalue what he accomplished.
His ball ricocheted through the spectator area wide right of the 18th green, eventually landing in the middle of a palmetto bush. He took a drop, hit a full wedge through a narrow opening in the trees, listened as fans cheered as it rolled a foot from the cup. He tapped in for an easy bogey.
Like everything else in the past few months, Poulter found a way to minimize the damage.
“You know, it was a big shock to the system to hit one of those nasty shanks when I’ve hit it as good as I have all week, but the fourth shot was pretty special – from one of the worst shots I’ve ever hit to one of the very best,” he said.
Instead of working the phones and writing letters to gain sponsor exemptions into upcoming tournaments, Poulter now can focus on the things he’s learned to appreciate the most.
“I would have had to, as I said, ask for invites, play certain events that you probably don’t want to play when your family are back in England and you’re over here playing golf,” he said. “It wasn’t looking like a great summer. For that all to turn around the way it is and for me to be sitting here in a slightly different situation, it’s pleasing.
“I think it’s time to start looking, start filling the positive thoughts back in my head and start enjoying golf again.”
