Tag: Ian Poulter

Watch: Billy Horschel and Ian Poulter have spirited interaction at BMW PGA Championship

What do you think they were talking about?

This week’s BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour is going to be must-watch TV.

Yes, the golf course is incredible. Yes, stars like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are in the field.

But neither one of those reasons are the most intriguing.

Joining McIlroy, Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, and defending champion Billy Horschel at Wentworth in Surrey, England, are nearly 20 members of the LIV Golf Series who’ve made their way over the pond after their event in Boston last week.

The PGA Tour stars have been clear with their opinions on the Saudi-backed players’ presence at one of the DP World Tour’s flagship events, including Horschel.

BMW PGA: Picks to win | Leaderboard

“I honestly don’t think that the American guys who haven’t supported the Tour should be here. Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch. … you’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the DP World Tour,” Horschel said Tuesday. “Why are you here? You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get world ranking points because you don’t have it (on LIV Golf).”

It’s unclear what the conversation was about, but the Florida Gator and LIV member Ian Poulter were caught having a spirited interaction Wednesday on the practice green.

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A Reddit user created a list of 15 hypothetical matchups between PGA Tour and LIV players. Let’s predict the winners.

Spoiler alert: It’s a bloodbath.

As more and more players decide to leave the PGA Tour for the LIV Golf Series, it becomes interesting to look at the top players in each league.

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas continue to represent the PGA Tour and a move from one of them seems incredibly unlikely. However, two big names are rumored to soon make the jump.

The latest Champion Golfer of the Year, Cameron Smith, and Hideki Matsuyama are thought to be the next high-profile players to sign on with the Saudi-backed circuit.

A Reddit user created a list of the top 15 players in each league and pitted them against each other. Our partners at The Caddie Network posted the table to Twitter and it sparked a heated conversation on who would come out victorious.

The best part may be Tiger Woods and Greg Norman as the captains.

Here are my predictions for all 15 hypothetical matchups:

Ian Poulter sank a ridiculously long putt during a solid opening round at The Open

No one would believe it if it weren’t on camera

LIV golfer Ian Poulter was met with boos as he approached the first tee at The Open Championships, which was immediately followed by an awful shot.

But he’d end the front nine in drastically different fashion than he opened it with.

How drastic? Well, does a historical finish to the ninth hole qualify?

For starters, Poulter made it to the green in one shot, setting him up for eagle on the relatively short par 4. The over 160-foot putt was deemed an “outside chance” to make it to the bottom of the cup on the broadcast. So, of course…

A 163-foot putt, the longest putt ever televised.

Poulter finished the opening round at -3, which currently has him tied for 14th in the standings.

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LIV golfer Ian Poulter hit an awful shot after being booed on the first tee at The Open

Ian Poulter seemed a little rattled on the first tee at St. Andrews.

Ian Poulter is usually beloved at The Open Championship but on Thursday morning he heard some strange noises while preparing to hit his first shot of the tournament at St. Andrews – boos.

Yup, fans let Poulter hear it and the veteran golfer seemed a little rattled because he then hit his tee shot way left. In fact, he was lucky the ball didn’t go out of bounds, which is really hard to do on the first hole at the legendary course.

Poulter, of course, is one of the players who has joined LIV Golf. I have to imagine that had a lot to do with the boos.

Here was the scene:

Poulter recovered from that and finished with a 3-under 69.

Twitter had reactions.

2022 British Open: Ian Poulter’s opening tee shot was ugly — and was he or wasn’t he heckled?

Afterward, he was asked if the boos he received from spectators near the first tee had anything to do with his dreadful tee shot.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Ian Poulter nearly did the unthinkable with his opening tee shot at The Old Course at St. Andrews.

He nearly toe-pulled an iron off the tee at the huge double fairway out of bounds, a feat only performed by Ian-Baker Finch at the 1995 British Open, which effectively sent him into retirement as he battled the driver yips.

“When I walked off that 1st tee, (I thought) is it Ian James Finch or what could this be? It was 5 feet from out of bounds,” Poulter said. “The barrier was in the way, took a drop, and got off to a decent start after that really.”

Poulter made par at the first and by the end of the round signed for 3-under 69, a solid performance after an inauspicious start.

Afterward, he was asked if the boos he received from spectators near the first tee had anything to do with his dreadful tee shot.

“Didn’t hear one,” Poulter said. “I actually thought I had a great reception on the first tee, to be honest. All I heard was clapping.”

When it was suggested that the boos were the result of Poulter joining LIV Golf, Poulter continued to downplay that he was heckled. (The heckling isn’t audible in the video of the shot posted on YouTube, but several tweets by those around the tee noted that Poulter didn’t get a warm welcome.)

“Oh, my gosh, I have heard not one heckle. In three weeks, I’ve heard nothing,” he said.

Poulter has been the most vocal player to oppose having his membership suspended by the PGA Tour, and was among the players who challenged the DP World Tour’s ban of LIV Defectors at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, a co-sanctioned event between the two tours. Eventually, he received a stay of his suspension and was allowed to compete. Poulter noted that he has ignored reading any of the stories being written about the upstart league’s challenge to the current golf world order, and claimed not to have heard R&A Secretary Martin Slumbers’ comments that took a hard stance against LIV Golf.

“Purposely haven’t looked at all. So I don’t want to know. You can tell me, I’m not going to listen. I’m here to play golf,” he said. “This could probably be my last Open Championship at St Andrews. So I’m trying to enjoy it despite the questioning.

“I’m staying out of the way. I’m not reading social media. I just want to play golf, right? I can only do my job. If I listen to a lot of nonsense, then I’m going to get distracted. That’s never going to be good for me. I’ll leave it to the clever people to figure stuff out, and I’ll just play golf.”

Poulter’s round did include one moment that was the polar opposite of his opening tee shot. At the ninth hole, he sank a putt from 150 feet for an eagle two.

“I kind of hit it two cups out to the right,” he cracked. “Longest putt I’ve ever made by a mile. You don’t ever hole those putts. Two-putt from there is a pretty good feat.”

And while Poulter was adamant that he didn’t have hecklers on his opening tee shot – charging that his thousands of admirers must have drowned out the one heckler, if there even was one – he did acknowledge that he heard from a boo bird at 17.

“We always have one out of several thousand people that say something silly most days,” Poulter said.

What did he say to the person shouting at him? “I said there’s always one American in the crowd.”

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Report: Mastercard pauses business relationships with LIV players Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell

Ian Poulter wore the Mastercard logo Friday at the Scottish Open, but Sports Business Journal reports that deal is off for now.

Mastercard has distanced itself from brand ambassadors Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell of the LIV Golf Series, Sports Business Journal has reported.

Mastercard senior vice president of communications Seth Eisen confirmed to SBJ on Friday that the company’s relationship with Poulter and McDowell has been paused in recognition of uncertainties involving their participation on the PGA Tour, which has suspended the pair and numerous others after they jumped to rival LIV Golf. (McDowell relinquished his PGA Tour card shortly before the first LIV event near London.)

The SBJ story mentioned that Poulter had signed an endorsement deal with Mastercard in 2009, and McDowell joined the brand in 2011.

Poulter did not wear the Mastercard logo on his shirt in last week’s LIV event in Oregon, but the logo was back on his collar in the opening rounds of this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. He also wore a logo for Stanley Black & Decker, with whom Poulter signed a contract in early 2022. Both of those logos were present on Poulter’s attire in Friday’s second round in Scotland, as were logos for Titleist and FootJoy, watchmaker Audemars Piguet, membership program Aurae Lifestyle and private airplane company NetJets.

In Scotland, Poulter also wore the logo for his LIV team, the Majesticks.

2022 JP McManus Pro-Am
Graeme McDowell watches his drive at the 10th tee during the 2022 JP McManus Pro-Am earlier this week at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland. (Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

McDowell, meanwhile, already had been dropped by another financial sponsor. Royal Bank of Canada dumped the former U.S. Open winner after he announced he would jump to LIV while not appearing at the RBC Canadian Open.

Poulter along with fellow LIV players Adrian Otaegui of Spain and Justin Harding of South Africa won a court-ordered temporary injunction that allowed them to play in the Scottish Open after being banned from the event by the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour. Harding opened the Scottish Open with a 65 before faltering with a 74 in the second round.

SBJ did not indicate how long the “pause” between Mastercard and the two players might last or what mitigating factors might unpause the relations.

Poulter and McDowell are not the first players to lose deals or see sponsorships paused since announcing plans to join LIV Golf. Phil Mickelson, who also signed to play with LIV, has seen several business relationships cancelled or paused since dropping out of PGA Tour play. Most notably, longtime sponsor Callaway announced it was pausing its relationship with Mickelson in February, and last year’s PGA Championship winner has not been seen in any of his traditional logos in LIV events.

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Four top-10 players miss cut at Genesis Scottish Open week before 150th Open Championship in St. Andrews

Many of the world’s best will start their Open preparation earlier than expected.

Being on the wrong side of the luck of the draw did in some of the biggest names in golf at the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.

After sublime conditions Thursday morning, the winds picked up and the temps dropped for the second wave of players. And their scorecards reflected the change Mother Nature dished up.

While Cameron Tringale – looking for his first PGA Tour title – scorched the layout with a 9-under 61 in calm conditions in the a.m. to grab the lead, those going out in the afternoon wave dealt with ferocious winds that did all sorts of things to the golf ball.

The best round among the second wave was turned in by Kurt Kitayama with a 66. In the morning, 32 players turned in scores in the 60s; in the afternoon, just six. Those going off late averaged 73.5 strokes, three shots higher than in the morning.

Many players paid the price, including Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris and Justin Thomas. And with winds challenging players in Friday’s second round, staging a comeback was not easy.

Scottish Open: PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

Missing the cut before the 150th playing of the Open Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews wouldn’t seem beneficial. Then again, players could get two extra days of practice at the Home of Golf.

The cut came in at 3 over, with 72 players advancing to the final two rounds.

Here are the big names packing their bags:

DP World Tour suspensions temporarily stayed for Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui, Justin Harding, which could allow them to play in 2022 Genesis Scottish Open

LIV Series golfers Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding might play in the Genesis Scottish Open after all.

LIV Golf Series golfers Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding just might play in the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open after all.

The three golfers are members of the upstart LIV circuit and subsequently were suspended by the DP World Tour. However, on Monday, DP Tour officials sent an update that read in part: “following a hearing Monday before HHJ Sycamore CBE, appointed by Sport Resolutions (UK), suspensions imposed on Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding have been temporarily stayed, pending determination of their substantive appeals by an Appeal Panel in due course.”

The Scottish Open is being co-sanctioned for the first time by the DP World Tour as well as the PGA Tour, a move that a part of a bigger strategic alliance between the two bodies. Both tours have banned players for joining the LIV circuit.

Keith Pelley, the CEO of the DP World Tour, was participating in the first day of the JP McManus Pro-Am in Ireland on Monday. When reached for comment, he said: “Out of respect for JP and Noreen McManus, their wonderful Pro-Am and the outstanding fundraising they undertake on behalf of charities in the west of Ireland, I will not be giving a detailed response on this matter right now.”

He expressed disappointment in the outcome of the hearing and said his tour will abide by the decision but also noted that “this is only a stay of the sanctions imposed, pending the hearing of the players’ appeal as to whether those sanctions were appropriate.”

Pelley went on to concede that the field for the Scottish Open will be updated, if necessary.

“The make-up of the field for the Genesis Scottish Open will be advised in due course, but based on this decision the field size will increase beyond 156.

“We will make further comment on this in due course, but not during our time at Adare Manor.”

The JP McManus Pro-Am concludes Tuesday at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland. The Scottish Open is set to begin Thursday morning.

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Report: LIV Golf players threaten DP World Tour with legal action

The letter was signed by 16 of this week’s LIV Golf Invitational competitors in Portland.

LIV players are preparing to strike back at the DP World Tour, and have threatened legal action, claiming the punishment handed out against them for jumping ship to the upstart league has been “grossly unfair and likely unlawful.”

As first reported by the Daily Telegraph, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are among 16 players that have been fined and banned from playing in the Genesis Scottish Open, which will be contested at the Renaissance Club in Berwick next week as a co-sanctioned event between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. In an open letter, the players said there would be legal actions against the DP World Tour unless the current sanctions are overturned by Friday.

The LIV players were hit with fines of 100,000 pounds plus are ineligible for three upcoming tournaments, including the Scottish Open, last Friday.

The letter was signed by 16 of this week’s LIV Golf Invitational competitors in Portland, who likely will be punished for playing in the event. It was addressed to the DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley and sent to other board members, and asked for the circuit to negotiate in good faith with the Saudi-backed circuit, or face the risk of legal action.

The letter, in part, read: “In Mr. Pelley’s latest communication, he uses the statement that every action in life comes with a consequence. We agree, and we are concerned that the actions of the Tour against us, LIV Golf, and golf in general will have adverse consequences on the DP World Tour, a tour and an organization that, despite our recent interactions, we care deeply for.

“The intention of this letter is not to further divide us, but to respond to Tour statements and to pose questions that the Tour should answer and we should discuss in detail. Instead of spending our time, energy, financial resources, and focus on appeals, injunctions, and lawsuits, we would implore you, the custodians of the DP World Tour, to reconsider your recent penalties and sanctions, and instead focus our energies on forging a path forward that is better for the DP World Tour members and the game of golf.

“To this end, we ask that you rescind your fines and suspensions by 5:00 pm on Friday, July 1, 2022. In addition, we represent over 5 percent of the DP World Tour membership and, under its articles of association, we ask you to convene a meeting of Tour membership to discuss these important matters further. If not, you will leave us with no choice but to employ the various other means and methods at our disposal to rectify these wrongs.”

The letter also expressed concern that the DP World Tour’s recently announced expanded relationship with the PGA Tour isn’t in the best interest of the circuit and will leave the DP World Tour in a diminished position, playing “second fiddle.”

“We appreciate that the argument being put forward is that the ‘strategic alliance’ with the PGA Tour will provide overall benefit to DP World Tour members — hence the competitive threat to the PGA Tour being treated differently when it comes to releases and other matters,” the letter said.

“To begin with, we do not accept that protecting the PGA Tour through this alliance could in any way justify this disparate treatment. Even if it could, what are these benefits? This is a question we have asked for many months.

“Thus far, the option to play the Barracuda Championship instead of the Scottish Open doesn’t appear to be one that benefits the membership at all. Ultimately, approximately 40 DP World Tour members who would have been eligible for the Scottish Open on the DP World tour will now not be eligible, and instead will only have the option to go and play on the PGA Tour in Kentucky the week before The Open, for less money but at a higher cost to participate.

“In addition, PGA Tour players have been encouraged to play the Scottish Open through a stipend to cover travel costs, but the same benefit is not afforded to DP World Tour members?! That the DP World Tour top performers will now earn PGA Tour cards serves only to solidify the DP World Tour as second fiddle to the PGA Tour and depletes the DP World Tour’s top rising talent even further. And without regard to whether this collaboration is lawful, would this collaboration be happening without LIV Golf entering the market?”

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Ian Poulter says he’ll appeal PGA Tour suspension; Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell hope to stay on DP World Tour

While Poulter could be headed to litigation, Graeme McDowell resigned his membership to “keep the moral high ground.”

Ian Poulter won’t surrender his PGA Tour membership without a fight.

While several of the notable LIV Golf players suspended by the PGA Tour already had informed the Tour that they were giving up their membership – including Kevin Na, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia – Poulter said on Thursday that he elected not to resign his membership.

When informed that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had lived up to his word and suspended 17 players who had “willfully violated its regulations” by playing in this week’s LIV Golf Invitational Series debut near London, Poulter told the media, “I will appeal, for sure. It makes no sense given how I have played the game of golf for all this time. I didn’t resign my membership because I don’t feel I have done anything wrong. I have played all over the world for 25 years. This is no different.

“I am committed to playing around the world like I have done for so many years so it is a shame if they view this as different. Of course, it’s going to be sad, when you feel you haven’t done anything wrong and want to promote the game of golf. It’s a power struggle and it’s just disappointing.”

Poulter made his comments following the first round of the inaugural event of eight tournaments scheduled for the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which is funded by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth investment fund of Saudi Arabia and one of the largest in the world. It has backed and is financing LIV Golf Investments, the parent company of LIV Golf.

While Poulter could be headed down the road of future litigation with the PGA Tour, Graeme McDowell explained that he resigned his membership “out of an abundance of caution” and to “keep the moral high ground.”

“I actually resigned about 30 minutes before I teed it up today,” McDowell said. “It was a tough decision. I wanted to keep the moral high ground and kind of remain a member of the Tour because I really didn’t feel like I needed to resign nor that I should have to resign. It was a very difficult decision. I kind of resigned out of an abundance of caution honestly because I feel like it puts me in a less litigious situation regards getting drawn into anything unnecessarily. But like I say, I didn’t want to resign. I love the PGA Tour. It’s been great to me. This is not about the PGA Tour is a bad tour. This is about being able to add on additional opportunities to my golf career. Really hard.

“Unfortunately this is going to be short-term pain, but I think all the players that are here this week have only been strengthened in their confidence that we are making the right decisions here because we feel like the execution level that we’re seeing here, the passion, the love of the game of golf that these guys have at LIV, that’s why we’re here. I feel like confidence has been strengthened. Even in the face of consequences which we knew were kind of on the horizon.”

When told of the ban from playing the Tour, including sponsor invites, Sergio Garcia claimed it didn’t apply to him because he was no longer a member.

“That’s one of the reasons why I resigned because I didn’t want to get into my legal battles,” Garcia said. “I’m very happy to be here for many reasons. It’s going to allow me to do what I love, which is playing golf. It’s going to allow me to see my family more, spend more time with my kids, 4 and 2, spend as much time as I can, and I make a good living doing it. For me it’s a win/win. I’m excited for what’s coming. Excited to finally be here playing and see the reaction of the people and the players and everything. So it’s very exciting.”

Garica confirmed that he has no intention, however, of giving up his membership to the DP World Tour.

“Why haven’t I? Because I would like to still be a member,” he said.

Asked if he still hopes to participate in future Ryder Cups, he said, “Definitely. First of all, I’m European, I love the European Tour. I played it for 23 years. Even though I played on the PGA TOUR, I always made sure that I kept my membership in Europe because I love The European Tour, and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to stay a member of the European Tour.

And obviously we’re going to have to wait and see what the European Tour does. But I definitely would like to keep my membership there, play at least my minimum, and you know, get my — as good a chance as I can to make The Ryder Cup Team because I love that event. But I guess we’ll see. We’ll wait and see what happens over there.”

McDowell shared Garcia’s hope that Keith Pelley, who heads the DP World Tour, wouldn’t simply follow in lockstep with the PGA Tour and ban the participants in LIV Golf from competing on their home circuit. The second LIV event happens to conflict with the DP Tour’s Irish Open.

“Will Keith follow suit? I hope he doesn’t,” McDowell said. “I think he has a fantastic opportunity here with a lot of European players and European Tour players that would like to subsidize their schedule with other events, especially if we are not allowed to play on the PGA Tour. I really hope The European Tour makes a good decision. They may have to follow suit with what Jay and the PGA Tour are doing, so watch this space.”

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