HUMBLE, Texas – After winning the Houston Open in dramatic fashion, Ian Poulter will trade in his headset for clubs at the Masters.
Moments after defeating Beau Hossler in a playoff for his first worldwide victory since 2012, Poulter revealed that he was originally planning to head to Georgia next week not as a player but as a commentator for Sky Sports.
“I was always going to Augusta National,” Poulter said. “It was just a case of when I was going to Augusta National.”
Full scoring from the Houston Open
Houston Open: Articles, photos and videos
But after earning his way into the field at the last possible moment, Poulter is eager to return inside the ropes for the first time since a T-49 finish in 2016.
Poulter believed his Masters spot was sewn up last week at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, only to find out later that a quarterfinal appearance moved him to No. 51 in the world when only the top 50 qualified automatically. After debating whether or not to make the trip to Houston, Poulter decided to tee it up and spent the next four days actively avoiding thoughts of what a breakthrough victory might mean.
“It’s horrible to get in that scenario of what if, what if, what if. It’s easy to get distracted,” Poulter said. “There were many goals this week, and obviously to be able to play the way I played down the stretch, be patient, hit good golf shots and take my opportunity when I had the opportunity, was big.”
Source: Internet
