Ian Poulter exclusive: I feel unwelcome just because I put my family first and joined LIV Golf

Ian Poulter sat on the sofa at the home he still keeps in England last summer weighing more than ever before and sized up yet another sausage sandwich. 

“Those sarnies, covered in HP sauce, on a daily basis, were great, delicious, as was all the chocolate and everything, but I was feeling awful, slovenly, and it was plainly not a good situation,” he said here at the LIV season-opener at the Mayakoba resort.  

“I would never admit that I was stress-eating, but who knows the way the mind works. I was getting ridiculous abuse and, in that sense, they were tough times.”

Contrary to popular opinion, Poulter, 47, understands the genuine problems faced in the UK and elsewhere and acknowledges that most of his happen to exist in the first-world category. Poulter was not born into an extravagance of riches, but an abundance of ambition was never far away from that Stevenage terrace. When it comes to providing for his own, there is no such thing for Poulter  as “enough being enough”. 

“I don’t just think of my kids, but their kids and their kids and that is what I work for,” he said. “People might have their objections. I’m not sure I get it, but fair enough. Yet I don't understand why they take it so far.” Poulter would not be drawn on the details of the vitriol. “Pretty vile,” he said. “Not necessary and I think that, in many respects, the media are to blame for the extent of this abuse.”

Poulter includes this journalist when pointing the finger and explains why he has steered clear of what is known in the trade as “one-on-ones” since the LIV saga blew up.

“We've had a relationship for a long time, right?” he said “But when it's one-way traffic you shut down. I don't want that situation, I want to give journalists what they need. But, I don’t know why, it’s just been very difficult to get the full picture out there. When you don't feel whatever you say is being reported in its entirety you go into your shell. You believe you're just wasting your time.”

And his problem? “The coverage has all come from one angle,” he said. “It’s just felt very, very unjust.”

At this point, many will say that what is truly “unjust” is the Saudi-ordered murder of Jamal Khashoggi or the Saudi Kingdom’s treatment of women and homoseuxals. But in this particular debating chamber, that is as easy as applying the predictable “whataboutery” charge whenever Poulter and the other LIV golfers ask why footballers have not come in for similar stick, or F1 drivers, or boxers. And Poulter has been under fire more than any defector, barring Phil Mickelson.

Inevitably, he was in the eye of the perfect social media storm. With more than two million followers on Twitter, he has often posted images of his collection of Ferraris at his Florida mansion. On the flip-side of this perceived excess has been his incredible success in the Ryder Cup, the event that transcends golf not only in its fame but also in the fact that the heroes receive no monetary reward. 

For all those years, Poulter’s reputation straddled paradox, the man with everything but who could only give his everything when patriotic pride was on the line.

So then he decided to accept the Saudi signing-on fee – rumoured to more than £20 million – and he was depicted as turning his back on his beloved Europe. The jury had finally returned. Poulter was more into the silverback than the blue and gold. Pile on.

“First of all, it usually has nothing to do with anyone how anyone makes their investments, but I’ve invested in classic cars and have opened up my social media accounts to allow fellow enthusiasts to see these beautiful works of art,” he said. 

“I repeat, those cars are an investment and ones that are working out very nicely for me. And the Ryder Cup, seriously? Do I have to prove that I care? In those eight weeks [of the Ryder Cups in which I have played] I have given everything I’ve got. 

“The pictures show it. Blood, sweat and tears, I wasn't acting. I was a wreck for a few weeks after each one of those matches. I loved every second, but now I’m in the situation where I feel unwelcome. Just because I put my family first? I’ve struggled to cope with that, although the reaction to Netflix has helped a lot.”

Poulter’s episode in the Full Swing series – the PGA Tour’s attempt to emulate the spectacular triumph of the F1 fly-on-the-wall Drive To Survive – has figured prominently in the positive reviews, as the father-of-four takes the viewers through the pros and cons of joining LIV. 

“Yeah, after the first seven or eight months of having the same opinion shouted at me, I was worried how it would be received, but I have been taken aback by the response,” he said. 

“I mean, scrolling through the messages, since it was released 10 days ago, it's been one positive thing after another. The opposite of what I’ve become used to. I’ve had loads saying, ‘please accept an apology – I’ve said things to you that I shouldn't and have a new respect level. Anyone would do that for their family’. I hope this has been a turning point. I know I’ve been making a fresh start.”

'The camaraderie has been terrific'

Poulter is looking trim and the scales give confirmation. “I’m down to 180lbs, about 12 ½ stone in old money, and that is what I was in 2010 [when he reached a career high of world No 5],” he said. “I am doing it more seriously than ever, with my training and my diet. I’ve impressed myself with how strict I’ve been, especially when the kids are opening a bar of Cadbury. ‘You’re killing me!’ I tell them. I love curries, but now I just have a chicken tikka and am sparing with the sauce. 

“It’s funny, because the critics still say, ‘ah, you’re on easy street, laying back and smoking a cigar’ but that’s so far from the truth. No dairy, no red meat... I’ve had a bit of arthritis and this helps. It’s about longevity and for me this now means everything.”

After he topped those scales last summer, Poulter bottomed out into a state of realisation. “When I joined LIV I probably underestimated what the team aspect would do to me,” he said. “But now I know my responsibility is not just to myself and my family, but to the team I’m on [Majesticks, also comprising Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and Sam Horsfield] and to the managers of this team. The camaraderie has been terrific, especially in the build-up to the new season. 

“We all gathered in Orlando last week [Westwood stayed with Poulter] and practised together for three days. I’ve known them all for years, but I have never felt closer to them. We are doing this together and in five to 10 years, I want to say we set the standard for whatever happens next to this franchise. People can micky-take if they want but that’s honestly how I feel. My affection for the Ryder Cup was obvious, so this is perfect for me.”

Poulter has not completely given up on the biennial dust-up for which his career for so long was destined to define. He appeared in person at the Sports Resolution hearing in the UK at the start of the month to give evidence and, like everyone in the elite male game, is nervously awaiting the verdict. 

“Look, I just want to be accepted as a normal member of a members’ organisation and as an independent contractor who wants to play golf globally – simple as that,” he said. “We’ll find out if that’s possible soon enough, although I’ll have to play my way into the team anyway because there’s no chance I’ll get one of the six wildcards, whatever I do. 

“As it stands, I’m not even in any of the majors. I can’t remember the last time I went a season without appearing in any of the four.”

The answer is 1999. In each year of this Millennium so far, he has played in at least one major, amassing three top threes – including a runner-up at the 2008 Open – in 73 attempts. Ranked 144th in the world, Poulter has no route to the Masters in April, or the following month’s US PGA or indeed the US Open in June. Yet The Open remains a possibility and it is one which Poulter is preparing to chase halfway across the world.

Poulter will play in the second $25 million LIV event in Tucson that finishes on March 19. From Arizona he will make the 20-hour, 7,600-mile trip to Hong Kong, for the $1 million Asian Tour event that starts on March 23. He will then embark, on March 26, for a similar journey back to Orlando for the $25 million third LIV tournament that begins on March 31. 

And the odds? There are only four berths at Hoylake on offer at Fanling, the famous course where Poulter won in 2010 and which, like Poulter, was so long a favourite on the European Tour before the split. 

“Without knowing the outcome of the hearing, I am regarding Hong Kong as my qualifier for The Open,” Poulter said. “I don't want to miss Hoylake, but that might prove my only chance. If I do not make it, people will probably say, ‘well, that’s the end of him’. It wouldn't be. I’ll keep battling. I’m back to my fighting weight after all.”