IAN POULTER HEADS IN TO THE MATCH PLAY SEMIS ON SUNDAY

We are looking forward to an exciting match between Ian Poulter and Hunter Mahan in the semi-finals of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday.

Ian Poulter has had a trouble free run into the semis after taking care of the South African Tim Clark in the morning and putting a damper on  what should have been birthday celebrations for American Steve Stricker after lunch!

Sundays game promises to be special  on one side, the Ryder Cup hero; on the other, the American, defending champion, who has now won ten matches in a row in this event.

Ian Poulter won this event 3 years ago and now  has given himself an outstanding chance of becoming only the second player after Tiger Woods ever to hold two of the four World Golf Championship titles at the same time. Poulter won the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in China last October.

This is the Englishman’s first event for six weeks and he used his time away wisely, asking himself: how can I get better? The answer was to change every club in his bag and work hard in the gym. The result is 15 extra yards off the tee and a confidence that suggests some exciting times ahead.

Some of Poulter’s short game play was exquisite. At the par five second his bunker shot from an awkward lie finished tap-in distance away. At the third his birdie putt from 40ft had at least 10ft of break but he judged it to perfection. At the 6th he chipped in. Stricker did come up with a birdie of his own at the 10th to reduce the deficit to two, only for Poulter to pitch and putt at the 11th and sink another long one at the 12th for two more birdies of his own.

The match came to an unfortunate end at the 16th. Stricker had putted up to 4ft away. ‘Pick it up,’ cried a spectator who had had a drink too many. Thinking it was Poulter who had said the words, Stricker did indeed pick his ball up. The sporting Poulter conceded the putt anyway to avoid a scene and then focused on his own par putt from 12ft to close out the match.

You can guess what happened, can’t you? ‘I relish those sort of putts,’ he said. ‘What can I say? I just love this form of the game. I just hope I’m exhausted come Monday morning, because that will mean I have played two more matches on Sunday.’