Ian Poulter - All mouth no trousers?

I always like to see fellow Englishmen perform well at all tournaments and not just the Majors. Seeing Westwood come so close at the Masters and Open in 2010 and even the US Open in 2008. That has to be the closest I have seen since the Faldo years. I like watching Donald, Fisher, Rose, Casey, Wilson, Wood all but to name a few. When I watch Poulter I just cringe. I think of all the things he has said in the past. Like saying that when he plays to his potential only he and Tiger would contest titles. Tiger would miss out of the top 5 in this year's Masters, when infact he finished tied for 4th and he finished T27.

He has always talked a good game and seems to fail to deliver so often. At the Ryder Cup in Valhalla in 2008 I thought he was our best player in the Europe team. My question is will he ever deliver the goods at a Major?

No, I don't think he will. I used to think that he would bag a big one but not anymore. I think he flatters to deceive.

I don't think that he'll win a major but then I have a massive amount of respect for the hard work that he has put in to get to where he is. His image is a bit cringy and his comments are usually ridiculous but he's the type of player that thrives on hype so tries to create a media whirlwind around himself. He also knows that his golf is not naturally the best and has created a brand for himself through his image - golf fans around the world will find him far more recognisable than, say, Lee Westwood or Luke Donald who have far more illustrious CV's and stronger games so that says something about how smart he is.

It reminds me a bit of Harrington when he won his first major and said that he would have been happy just as a journeyman pro and winning a major exceeds all he could have wanted. I think that deep down Poulter would feel the same as he has never shown a great deal of natural ability but for his work rate I really hope he does win won as he deserves it. I also hope that it is only one as a collection of majors with "Poulter Mania" might be just too much to take...

Mainly mouth but also quite a lot of trousers. Like sharrison, I quite admire what he's achieved but I think his profile cf. Westwood or Donald says more about the typical golf follower than anything else. Kudos to him in some ways for knowing what (unfortunately) sells and perhaps thinking ahead re. his post-golf career.

I don't think he'll win a Major as his game's not good enough but knowing my luck, he'll do just that.

Poulter has certainly got a big mouth, and loves himself to bits, not sure what is more important to him, his fashion, or winning tournaments, going by his record, its his fashion

Nothing wrong with his record. He's won plenty, underperformed in Majors granted, but he's had an awful lot more success than many other players.

Of course he's a bit of a titt , but he's a fine golfer who has got to the top of the game with a great deal of hard work.

His record is good, but rarther than say he has underachieved in the majors, I think it is more a case of him over achieveing elsewhere.

In terms of ability he is average, but he makes up for it with his self belief.

His reaction (on his favourite past time) Twitter said alot about him really, and personally I am not a fan of either his game or his so called 'character'

It's easy not to like Poulter and very easy to see how is extra curricular activities could detract from his game, but his short game last year and early this year was phenomenal, on a par with anyone so I certainly wouldn't say he's over achieved. He's won far too regularly and maintained a high ranking for too long a time for it to be merely coincidence/luck.

I'm not so sure about Poulter having a record to be overly admired but I think that he represents and gives hope to thousands of young golfers out there that are picking grip tape off clubs for 10 hours a day for £100 a week. He did not have the golfing development opportunities of players like GMac, Casey, Rose, Westwood, Donald, Fisher, Wilson, Rory etc but had worked really hard and carved out a golfing career that he should be proud of.

The way that he has done it by becoming more famous off the course than on it has shown a great deal of initiative and business acumen and I think that the media whirlwind that surrounds his ballsy comments and different clothing helps to fuel that self belief that serves him so well. I would also much rather listen to him put his foot in his mouth than players like Westwood with his premier league footballer cliches or Casey/Rose with their "interesting" American media trained accents.

I agree, he has worked hard, but if you watch him play live, you will see that his ball striking is well below the top guys, and although his short game is great, he has definately over achieved, and really only appeals to the football fans, much like boxer David Haye did.

I think his website has the wording, 'Ian Poulter, Pro Golfer, Fashion Designer and Personality'

I know how I would change that, something along the lines of 'Poults - Fashion Designer, Clothes Horse and Pro Golfer'

He's always going to polarise opinion, personally I like him because of his determination and because he's outspoken, and in a sport riddled with boring "characters" he certainly stands out.

I can see why he's easy to dislike, but you don't achieve what he has done by being a bad ball striker. Obviously he's not up there with Garcia in that respect, but he's a fine player, no mistake.

But then I think the fact that his ball striking is relatively poor but his record is better than a lot of players shows a strong mentality and that there's more to him than is portrayed.

I never said he was bad, but he is nowhere near the majority, but he DOES deserve credit for working hard at it.

Maybe if the likes of Westwood and the other English golfers worked as hard as he does then they might see some better results.

As for his supposed 'character' it all seems a bit forced to me!

I agree that his character seems a bit false but when he stands on the practice range of a tour event and sees the players around him that have had every opportunity thrown at them to be a tour pro like college scholarships and amateur experience with funding he must have massive insecurities that he channels into coming across as a bit arrogant and in your face.

Fair enough, he's not your traditional golfer and I can see why you see him as irksome.
He's certainly an example of making as much as your talent as possible and certain players could learn a bit from him
He gets a hard time but does a tremendous amount of charity work behind the scenes, so even if he's can be a bit of a mammary gland in front of the camera, he's a decent guy underneath it all.

The only reason he didnt get all the money and coaching etc, thrown at him, was because he turned pro off 4, hardly great, so he can't expect that really.

His 'character' is false, and I think it is his insecurities (demonstrated in his childish twitter outburst) that show him in a poor light

He turned pro off of 4 because he was working as an assistant pro learning to be a golf coach. He obviously wasn't good enough when he was younger to benefit from the county/national and their benefits to amateurs and for whatever reason did not go down the US scholarship route. To even do this shows a lot of character and guts as he could have quite easily not made it with that handicap!

Amazing self belief to do that though, I'm currently +1 but I know I'm nowhere near good enough to even contemplate becoming a touring pro yet. If he wasn't to win another tournament I think he would be pretty pleased with how far he's come and what he's achieved. Could do with letting his golf do the talking though.

I like Poulter have to admit. hes got his own way with words and is making hay whilst he can. To say he wont win a major is a bit silly...DC just won the open and who saw that coming? Poulter is skilled and talented perhaps more so than Casey, fisher etc...

he has a personality and sometimes that annoys the old school club mentality. But hes good for the game and worked his nuts off to get where he has. As for his "childish twitter outbursts" its just means hes more like most of us and therefore a real person.

Westwood has backed off twitter as he was getting grief from idiots - Poulter gets just as much but deals with it and moves on. Says more about a solid character - perhaps hard headed - but one that has the ability to ignore the doubters and keep moving on. I'd suggest this mentality is more akin to a major winner. As he says himself - he was selling mars bars only a few years ago and no one beleived he could make it. Well in my eyes hes made it through hard work and self belief...

If he was an american they would be proud of his guts and determination...typical british to knock the success!

Poulter was rookie of the year back in 2000 and won on his first full year on tour. He was hardly selling mars bars a few years ago, it was really just a job he had as a kid and he has been a success on tour from a pretty early age.
So yes he has worked hard to get where he has but please can we put away the violins about him being a working class hero fighting every stepo of the way, the guy has probably been driving a ferrari since his early twenties and he came from a decent middle class home.

LOL violins - i wasnt even thinking about working class heros etc. I am though coincidently a posh nob who drives a Bentley and eats Foie Gras...

My point was simply hes worked hard to get where he is - why do folk in the UK jump on slagging folk off who work hard to get where they are?

Anyway, im off to thrash my butler as he didnt take the rind out of the marmalade this morning!

toodle pip!

He has worked hard to get where he is, but Im equally sure plenty of other guys on tour have worked just as hard if not harder.
He is very flash and loves showing off what he has. Thats his right but its my right to find that doing so is lacking in style and class.

yup plenty of guys have worked hard as you say - but this thread was about Poulter not plenty of guys.

Lacking class and style - blimey listen to you!

Onetoanother wrote:...To say he wont win a major is a bit silly...DC just won the open and who saw that coming?

DC has more basic skill in one finger than Poulter. You could argue he was overdue a Major; he certainly won at least two WGCs in Tiger's real pomp years. Maybe he smelled the roses a bit too much along the way to maximise his abilities but he obviously realises it's about more than just golf.

Onetoanother wrote:why do folk in the UK jump on slagging folk off who work hard to get where they are?

Maybe we don't like ****heads? It seems to be that you have to be a ****head in order to be a winner. Pity.

Onetoanother wrote:Anyway, im off to thrash my butler as he didnt take the rind out of the marmalade this morning!

It does make me laugh the way that people think that they would be so different if they were in Poulter's situation. Can you really tell me that if you were in your early 20's with a seven figure bank account you wouldn't go out and buy a sports car? Surely sports cars are made for people like him because the middle aged executives that drive them certainly don't do them justice!

The fact that he is from a middle class family is irrelevant - most people that play golf are. No body is lauding him as a working class hero and as much as all the guys on tour must have worked hard to get where they were, for whatever reason, Poulter did it the hard way. The college guys hardly had to sell mars bars and regrip clubs in between practicing, with their scholarships and colleges providing them with the best coaching and playing experience to become a tour pro. And maybe Poulter didn't like the clickiness of county/international/amateur golf in the UK - I'm pretty sure that the stuffy old boys that run these didn't warm to his confident and brash style!

Impressive post by a moderator

I don't think dismissing Poulter's chances in a major is silly, I have done it and will continue to do it.

Maybe no one saw DC major win coming, but ask anyone in the know if they think his game is good enough, and they would have told you yes, resoundingly!

Is Poulter's game good enough, resoundingly IMO NO!

Onetoanother wrote:Impressive post by a moderator

What's being a Mod got to do with it? I wasn't posting as one.

sharrison, this nonesense about him selling marsbars etc, is irrelevant.

Had he been any good at his age, he would have been in college getting the top coaching etc, facts are his lowest handicap as an amateur was 4.

I fail to see how he doesn't have the game to win a major. He was runner up at The Open the other year and played very impressively

ahhh so you can be a moderator only when you choose to be?

Excellent! Well done you!

SR - Do you think he is good enough to win a major? Really?

3 top 10's in 40 attempts is hardly knocking on the door

Navy, surely some your comments apply exactly to Poulter as well with regards to there being more to life than golf?!?

And I would actually say that Clarke has had the sort of career that I would have expected of him - he has just always played his game without worrying too much about reaching the top. Even before his personal problems, it wasn't as if he saw everyone around him start to get fitter and stronger to improve their golf and thought "I'll have some of that."

Again, if Poulter can grab himself a major over the next 5 years or so then he would have a CV to rival Clarke's and would have done that with less basic skill than in Clarke's finger, to quote you. This would be impressive...

Onetoanother. The golf section is no different to any other section here. All sections have moderators who are also members. No one "chooses" to post as a moderator or admin when it suits them. We post as mod or admin when someone breaks rules - at all other times we are posting our own opinions

As far as I can see people keep setting him apart beacuse he has had to work hard....just like everyone else. Big deal. He's hardly had a tough life in the grand scheme of things and has been a successful pro for over a decade.
I dont see this as any reason to cut him any slack, he's a big mouthed, tasteless OCD poseur in my book.
I suppose its possible he could win a major, DC has just proved it can happen as has been mentioned, but if I was a betting on him it would be to miss a cut rather than to win.

JDandfries wrote:sharrison, this nonesense about him selling marsbars etc, is irrelevant.

Had he been any good at his age, he would have been in college getting the top coaching etc, facts are his lowest handicap as an amateur was 4.

There are lots of kids out there selling mars bars and regripping clubs for no money with dreams of being like Poulter. A lot of them left school early so college might not be an option and unless you like "playing the game" in the UK amateur system then his route is the only hope. The fact that his amateur handicap was 4 and he now competes on the tour might explain why he has these insecurities that come out as arrogance - it was merely an observation, not a judgement and again will show youngsters out there what a bit of self belief can do.

Of course he is JD, Majors are littered with one hit wonders and Poulter is easily as good as the likes of them. He'd need a bit of luck but he's as much chance of anyone who hasn't won a major yet, winning one in the future.

Whether he will or not, no one knows, but he certainly has the game to, just as anyone else in the top 50 does.

YE Yang also turned pro off four, came out of nowhere as a short hitter and blew Woods out of the water. There is a precedent.

Can i suggest then removing the mod tag and only using it when you are moderating the site/people/trouble etc? Its confusing to have a mod using this type of aggressive childish language (maybe we dont like ****heads) etc...even the stars dont hide the attitude of someone who perhaps isnt best placed to mod others?

Just a thought really. Maybe im expecting too much from mods on this board.

YE YAng is much more likely to win another major than Poulter is to win one.

I think people get blinkered by his blaze attitude and dreadful dress sense, watch him play, and ignore the circus that he surrounds himself with.

If he wasn't a gobs**** and didnt dress like a tw** he would be no more recogniseable or lauded than someone like Simon Khan or Graeme Storm

super_realist wrote:Of course he is JD, Majors are littered with one hit wonders and Poulter is easily as good as the likes of them. He'd need a bit of luck but he's as much chance of anyone who hasn't won a major yet, winning one in the future.

Whether he will or not, no one knows, but he certainly has the game to, just as anyone else in the top 50 does.

YE Yang also turned pro off four, came out of nowhere as a short hitter and blew Woods out of the water. There is a precedent.

Just because there is precedent doesnt mean you cant have a sensible debate as who is more or less likely to win a major in the future. If I was making a list of players from the top 50 who I thought might win a major who hadnt yet Id have a lot more above Poulter than above him.
Does that make it impossible for him, of course not, do I think its remotely likely he will win one....no.

Of course Poulter can win a major but I don't think that his game has got multiple majors in it. The big question is why would people not want him to win one? Kids look up to him, he's British and if Rose/Casey/Westwood/Donald/Fisher/Poulter don't manage a major between them in the next few years then we have a situation like the LTA in tennis as to what's going wrong. Each in this generation of players have their flaws and Poulter is no different - the fact is that the other's have more "British flaws" that you prefer.

Onetoanother wrote:
Just a thought really. Maybe im expecting too much from mods on this board.

Maybe you're also expecting too much of the forum software. It's simply not possible to remove the badges and only have them show when we are speaking as mods or admins. That's why the rule about using red font was brought in for when we are speaking in mod capacity

Steady on you two. Consider yourself modded!

You should be an MP Davie. nicely dodged.

Poulter's career surely at a crossroads right now.
He's not turned out to be the golfer that he, the press and Faldo expected; on the other hand he's achieved a lot and is likely to be criticised for not having achieved more.

He can go one of two ways now:
1).Carry on with the brash young man image, competing with Justin Rose as to who's got most rooms in their respective mansions, play on the fringes of two Tours but really not have the discipline to succeed on either.

or:

2).Figure out that he's a fit young man with ten more years at or close to his physical (in golfing terms) best and buckle down to some hard work, physical but mental too, and plan a schedule to have him at peak performance for important strokeplay events. Perhaps ditch one of the two Tours.

He'll be lucky this year to fulfil his PGA Tour minimum tournament requirements unless there's a sharp uptick in his form at Firestone and Atlanta AC.

Clearly he has the ability, but does he have the focus to succeed, or will he just be another sporting nearly man? I would say the jury's out right now, too early to condemn him but he needs to grind out some results sooner rather than later.

I don't agree Kwini, I think he has massively overachieved based on his actual ability (not the ability he thinks he has or The Sun or Spooney think he has).

So he should be very proud of what he has achieved from his limited ability, and should definately drop to wide boy image, which is so false it is untrue!

sharrison01 wrote:Of course Poulter can win a major but I don't think that his game has got multiple majors in it. The big question is why would people not want him to win one? Kids look up to him, he's British and if Rose/Casey/Westwood/Donald/Fisher/Poulter don't manage a major between them in the next few years then we have a situation like the LTA in tennis as to what's going wrong. Each in this generation of players have their flaws and Poulter is no different - the fact is that the other's have more "British flaws" that you prefer.

What kids look up to him ? I think they are far more likely to look up to McIlroy than Poulter to be honest, I very mch doubt kids see Poulters image as something to aspire to, his clothing range is rank awful.

I certainly would be dissapointed if my kids looked up to Poulter, especially when there are many more suitable role models in golf.

Jeez, you'd think he'd murdered someone.

Jeez, you'd think he was a great player with numerous unfortunate major near misses.....