PART ONE:

MEDINAH, CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 2012
AFTER NEARLY TWO DAYS OF INTENSE COMPETITION
THE USA LEADS THE RYDER CUP 10-5
FACING A SEEMINGLY INSURMOUNTABLE DEFICIT
A SHELL-SHOCKED EUROPEAN TEAM IS ON IT’S KNEES

IAN POULTER: When things aren’t going well it’s the most horrible feeling.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It’s a hole now, it was serious yesterday evening, now it’s a hole.  

MAN: It’s a tough, tough hole to climb out of, now they are going to have to start making birdies.

COMMENTATOR: Somehow they are going to have to find the key to stop the charge.

IAN POULTER: There’s nothing like the Ryder Cup, the history, the drama, the team spirit.  In the Ryder Cup, one player, one par, one moment can make a difference.  However bleak the situation you can always turn the tide, as long as you keep fighting and never, ever give up.  And you must always believe.

COMMENTATOR: Astonishing the way he putts in this competition.  Yes, he has indeed, that’s four birdies in a row.  Right in the heart of the hole, a five birdie finish from Ian Poulter and he’s given hope to a European side that looked totally lost as little as two hours ago.

IAN POULTER: I’ve prided myself on being able to go out there and deliver in the Ryder Cup.  The level of emotion you are going to receive on a personal level, winning just a regular tournament is great but it’s nothing like a Ryder Cup.  I mean you get to share all the emotions not just once but every time you hole a putt.

In ’93 that was it.  I went to a number of tournaments in those years or years prior to that and obviously they just don’t have the same effect and for me to be there at my first one was just, it was mind blowing.  Driving to the Belfry with the tent in the back of the car, three of us from Chesfield Downs Golf Course.  We drove up there, didn’t have anywhere to stay, went to a campsite which was full.  Asked the lady, knocked on her door and she was kind enough to let us stay in her back garden, which we did.  So we was there for the week in a tent, pretty cold, eating tinned food, a few bottles of wine, it was not pretty but the turning point was what happened inside the ropes when was there at the Belfry, the buzz, the excitement, the electricity, the passion, everything about it from the players, from a fan perspective, it just gripped me.  I had to be part of that Ryder Cup.

I’d never heard a noise like it, I’d never heard a roar like it from Faldo’s hole in one.  I mean it was just, it echoed round the golf course and that was it.  I said right, I have to make myself part of one of those teams because it looks a lot of fun.

TIM BARTER: We know what a positive person you are, you said it was a career goal, were you pretty certain at that stage I’ve got the drive to achieve this career goal, to get there and make a name for myself in the Ryder Cup.

IAN POULTER: If you look at my golf swing people say no but I just had the mind-set that anything is achievable, there’s no reason why Seve was born with a talent or Faldo was born with a talent to be a superstar, it’s a case that those guys worked at it as much as I’m going to have to work at it to get to where they are so for me it was just exactly that, work hard, be passionate and that will help you go that extra mile.

It felt like it went in a week, that waiting time of ten years.  To think that I’ve fast tracked from being a shop boy sleeping in a tent to competing against the best in the world, I mean that’s crazy, to get to that point went very, very fast and it was an amazing feeling to put the shirt on.  The whole build up is amazing, the pressure, the fun, the plane journey, getting in the travelling gear, arriving at the hotel and I remember I’ve still got my hotel keys now, I had to steal them!  But I’ve got everything from that first Ryder Cup.  That’s how special Ryder Cups are, you cherish every one of them.

BERNHARD LANGER, RYDER CUP CAPTAIN 2004: He was always really excited about the Ryder Cup and he has got a bit more of an outgoing personality than some others.  Usually as a rookie you don’t put yourself in front of the guys that have already played three, four, five Ryder Cups and have more experience but that’s his personality, he likes to have fun and speak his mind.

IAN POULTER: I’m ready for it.  I’m looking forward to that first tee shot.  Obviously the nerves are going to build as the week goes on and I just want to be able to stand on that first tee, feel good, feel a bit nervous and hit it straight down the middle.

TIM BARTER: You sat out the first day’s matches, I know you went down to the first tee to experience that.  Did it make it more nerve-wracking to see what was going on or did it help?

IAN POULTER: I’m not sure if it helped.  Seeing Luke Donald trying to peg it up on the tee, I mean he probably had a minute but I was what, five paces away, to see Luke struggle to get the ball on the tee is exactly as you feel as you are going to peg it up. I mean it is nerve-wracking to say the least, your body is doing things that you have never felt before.  So was it good or bad?  It might have made it worse seeing how hard it was to, not how hard it was to hit your tee shot but how hard it is to get your ball on the tee peg to start proceedings. It’s not easy and it’s a nerve-wracking experience.

Yes, that was an interesting match.  I remember walking to the first tee with Darren and Darren says to me, ‘Listen, if you’re going to be nervous, just smash it as hard as you can and I’ll follow you straight down the middle of the fairway.’  At the time that was nice, Darren being the senior figure in the team room that week and he was great to play with but we didn’t hole anything.  They played very well, they gelled nicely, when Tiger came in he came in pretty strong and then when he didn’t, Chris Riley was always there to back him up and we took a good pounding that day.

COMMENTATOR: And that’s that.  Darren Clarke and Ian Poulter defeated by four and three.

TIM BARTER: You’ve said already it was a lifelong goal to be in the Ryder Cup, you lose your first match. How much did it hurt?

IAN POULTER: A lot.  I didn’t like it at all to be honest.  For me to have waited so long to be part of a Ryder Cup team and then to get our butts kicked on that day was awful, absolutely awful.  I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t enjoy that evening but I had to change my mind-set.  As disappointed as I was, the team were doing really well and I had to say to myself, listen, come on, all right, you’ve been beat, you’re playing Chris Riley tomorrow, let’s get out there and do exactly what he did to us and get him off that golf course early.

BERNHARD LANGER: I know he’s a fiery competitor and every competitor in the team wants to win a point or two for the team, especially if you lose one earlier on, that’s just instilled in us and that’s what we feel like we ought to be doing as a part of the team.

TIM BARTER: How keen were you to put a point on the board.  We were going to win this thing potentially but without putting a point on the board it wouldn’t have felt the same would it?

IAN POULTER: No, I pride myself in going out there to give everything so that would have been devastating to have played a Ryder Cup without adding something to a victory so I wanted to have a revenge match and I wanted to go out there and – it sounds terrible but I wanted to beat him good and proper.

BERNHARD LANGER: It’s refreshing how excited he gets, how much into it he gets and it seems to bring the best out of him which is fantastic.

TIM BARTER: How much do you remember of the match itself?

IAN POULTER: I just completely outplayed him that day and I played hard, I played fair but I played hard and I made sure I made a lot more birdies than he did. 

IAN POULTER EASED TO AN AVENGING 3&2 VICTORY OVER CHRIS RILEY
AS EUROPE BLITZED THE  USA 7½ TO 4½ IN THE SINGLES
A SCORE WHICH SAW THEM INFLICT THE HEAVIEST EVER DEFEAT ON THE USA
AND TAKE HOME THE RYDER CUP WITH A SCORE OF 18½ TO 9½

COMMENTATOR: The great nation of America humbled by a united Europe.

END OF PART ONE

PART TWO

TIM BARTER: We’re familiar with the golfing persona of Ian Poulter, tell us about Ian the family man, Ian the father, Ian the husband.

IAN POULTER: I’ve got four lovely children.  Luke is my ten year old son, Amy doesn’t play, she doesn’t want to play golf, she’s more into telephones and handbags and make up and all that good stuff and he’s not, which is brilliant.  He wants to be a sportsman, I’m not sure if he really knows what sport he wants to play at the minute but you know, it’s great to be playing golf with him, really great fun and we enjoy it, don’t we?  It’s good fun.

TIM BARTER: Luke, how cool is it having this one for a father?

LUKE POULTER: Really cool.

TIM BARTER: What can you remember from the Ryder Cups, anything?

LUKE POULTER: When he shouts when he made the … on the 18th hole.

IAN POULTER: What did I do?

TIM BARTER: How difficult, Ian, is the work life balance that you have to strike?  Obviously you are away on the road so many weeks a year, you want to be with your kids as well.

IAN POULTER: Yes, they’re growing too quickly.  I can remember taking them home for the first time from hospital and all of a sudden he’s ten year’s old and nearly as tall as me so hopefully he’ll be beating me on the golf course but I miss them when I’m away and that’s the really difficult thing about playing this game, as good as it is and the rewards are great, I don’t get to be the dad for five months a year and it’s really hard.  Even Lily and Joshua, every week I’m away at the minute, at five and two, they change every week, they’re always doing something new and I missed that with Luke and Amy and I’m missing it again with Lily and Joshua.  So it’s difficult, mum’s doing a lovely job and keeping them growing up lovely and I do my bit when I get home.

TIM BARTER: Let’s see you hit the ball then, Luke you’re up first.  

IAN WOOSNAM, RYDER CUP CAPTAIN, 2006: Obviously you’ve been waiting a while for this, my first pick is Darren Clarke and my second pick is Lee Westwood.

IAN POULTER: To be in position at some stage during the year to make that side and then obviously … I think I only missed out by a couple of places and then to get a phone call saying, ‘Ian, very sorry, unfortunately you’re not going to be one of my two picks’ was devastating.  I took it really hard.  Obviously he had players that he wanted to pick, to go out there and do the job and obviously I wasn’t required and that hurt me.  I went out the following week to play a tournament, that was in Switzerland, and I was nine over after nine holes and I just said to the guys, listen, I don’t need to be playing golf right this second, I’m going to apologise to you now but I need to give you my score card, I’m going home.  So I took myself off the golf course and I went home and it was horrible. 

WITHOUT IAN POULTER, IAN WOOSNAM’S TEAM PICKED UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF IN 2004
IN EMOTIONAL SCENES, RECENTLY BEREAVED DARREN CLARKE  HELPED EUROPE CRUSH THE USA ONCE AGAIN
A SECOND CONSECUTIVE SCORE OF 18½ TO 9½ SAW EUROPE WIN FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A ROW

TIM BARTER: Did you watch any of it on TV?

IAN POULTER: I did, I mean how can you not watch the Ryder Cup?  It was painful, really, really painful but painful because I wasn’t part of that team, not painful as an individual.  I just wanted to be part of that team environment because that week in Ireland was absolutely, I mean we all remember it and it was an emotional week for Darren and a very, very victorious team.

TIM BARTER: So Ian, we’ve seen young Luke possesses your talent for striking a driver, but does he have your temperament?

IAN POULTER: Unfortunately, yes and no.  The good stuff is he’s got the passion to play the game, he’s got a little bit of my early day anger in there as well.  If he hits a bad shot he’s really disappointed so it’s about tuning that in the right direction so it will come up in a positive way but he wants to win and that for me is the best bit about it.  Everything he wants to do, if it’s scoring a goal, if it’s trying to chip in or hole a long putt, I mean he wants to do it and that’s fun for me to see that in him because it kind of reflects what I know what I was thinking back in the day as well.

TIM BARTER: And how much do you want to be a professional like your dad?

LUKE POULTER: A lot.

TIM BARTER: A lot, and you’ve got the will to do that.  What about dressing like dad, how do you feel about that?

LUKE POULTER: Good.

IAN POULTER: Well I dressed like him this morning.  I went in his bedroom to wake him up, picked his outfit out and went upstairs and thought, mm, that looks quite good so I think I’ll dress just like Luke today so inspired by Luke this was this morning.

TIM BARTER: Are any of the outfits that dad wears a no-go area?  Do you think no, I’m not wearing the Union Jack pants?  Any of those?

LUKE POULTER: The golden shirt with the black pants. 

TIM BARTER: That’s a no-go area?  Okay.  Right, we’d better go and hit these second shots, come on.

IAN POULTER: Oh dear!

SIR NICK FALDO, Ryder Cup Captain 2008: I said to him, Raquel, go and put your overcoat on, it’s time to go to the Ryder Cup.

IAN POULTER: I think Nick had a difficult decision to make.  There were great players that missed out.

SIR NICK FALDO: I knew Poul, how well he played and everything so for me that was an obvious pick.  At that time I think he was 22nd in the world, it’s good to have a guy in the team who has, as he says, he’s got the come on attitude, the more emotional he gets the better he plays.  He has ability to turn that round and up.

IAN POULTER: As excited as I was, I felt that because there were other players, great players, that missed out I felt that I was having to stand up and deliver, I would be under scrutiny if I didn’t play very well.

TIM BARTER: You partnered Justin Rose, a good friend, in three matches. You lost the first one and won the last two.

IAN POULTER: Shouldn’t have lost the first one.

TIM BARTER: Tell us about that one then, why not?

IAN POULTER: I hit it in the water, 13th hole.  It was perfect yardage for me, I didn’t quite get all of it, it come up two yards short in the hazard and that was the turning point of that match and that was a killer blow, that was really hard, that was a hard loss to take. 

COMMENTATOR: And from being three up, coming towards the turn, Rose and Poulter lose that match, it’s another point for the United States.

TIM BARTER: Since that opening match in Valhalla, you’ve played two further Ryder Cups, you’ve played 12 matches in total and won 11 of them, lost just one.  We think that’s remarkable, how would you describe it?

IAN POULTER: I guess it’s pretty good.  I don’t think of it like that but yeah, winning 11 of the last 12 matches, yes, it’s pretty good.

TIM BARTER: What’s the secret?

IAN POULTER: The absolute pure hatred to lose.  Absolute ding-dong of a match, I mean it was incredible.  Furyck that day, I think he was five under or six under on his own ball on the back nine and it had come down to the last couple of shots, I had to up and down it from about fifty yards short of that green and I hit a lovely pitch onto probably four feet above the hole.  It was a little slippery downhill putt, the team are all behind the green, they’re all waiting and it’s an inspiring moment to be able to hole a putt and turn round and share that passion with everybody else at that moment and that was one of those where it was at the back of the green.

COMMENTATOR: It’s a magnificent ball, truly magnificent.  Furyck had that first point and it’s capped courtesy of the Englishman, Ian Poulter.

TIM BARTER: That celebration has become your trademark, where does it come from?  Describe the adrenaline rush that goes through you.

IAN POULTER: I can’t describe it.  When I see it back it almost scares me to be honest but there’s the most outrageous run of adrenaline that comes through my body.  I could knock Tyson out at that moment, I mean it’s silly, I don't know but it’s just passion. That may be the footballer that I wanted to be back in the day, part of the team to be able to celebrate and to be able to be in that atmosphere where you can be I guess loud and a little in your face.

TIM BARTER: You won your singles against Steve Stricker, he subsequently said he’s the person he’s most like to beat in Ryder Cup, how big a compliment is that?

IAN POULTER: It’s a big compliment.  I guess I get under their skin and I guess I have to take that as a compliment.  Eleven of the last twelve points won, I guess I’m hard to beat, I’ve been hard to beat and I play with a target on my back so therefore those guys are going to be pretty pumped up to go out there and try and beat me. 

COMMENTATOR: And he finishes it in style, well done Ian Poulter.  A lot of questions were asked of  him this week and he’s answered all of them.

POULTER’S HEROICS COULDN’T HALT A US LANDSLIDE
AS EUROPE’S TOP POINT SCORER HE HAD VINDICATED FALDO’S SELECTION
DESPITE HIS CONTRIBUTION OF 4 POINTS FROM 5 MATCHES, EUROPE HAD COME UP SHORT
THE USA WONTHEIR FIRST RYDER CUP IN 9 YEARS

TIM BARTER: Having experienced the amazing high of winning obviously the first time in ’04, how devastating was the low to lose the Ryder Cup and see the Americans parading it?

IAN POULTER: Oh awful, to see Boo Wheatley riding that golf club down off that first tee because it was played and played and played and played again.  I mean whenever you flicked the TV on that week there he was and you would expect them to be pretty happy and pretty partisan that week when they had given us a good seeing to so it’s difficult to watch and obviously not enjoyable to be part of. 

END OF PART TWO

PART THREE

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Ah, Ian Poulter, passion, confidence, we are going to win.  The charisma of the guy, we nicknamed him Postman because he was going to deliver and he did.  Amazing.

CELTIC MANOR, THE RYDER CUP, 2010
AFTER A RAIN-AFFECTED THREE DAYS
EUROPE HOLD A THREE POINT LEAD GOING INTO THE SINGLES

INTERVIEWER: You are at number five playing Matt Kuchar who is unbeaten this week, your thoughts on that match.

IAN POULTER: I’m playing well, I’m looking forward to it, I mean I live for the Ryder Cup, that’s why I’m here and I will deliver a point.

INTERVIEWER: That’s very confident, you are absolutely convinced you’re going to win?

IAN POULTER: I’ll deliver a point.  

TIM BARTER: Some players might have thought it, other players might have believed it, I can’t think of another player who would have said it.   Why did you?

IAN POULTER: Because I was going out there to deliver my point and I guess it could have backfired at the time and would have been really horrible but when I’m in that frame of mind and I believe I am capable of going out there to deliver then I don’t mind saying things and taking it on the chin if I have to.  I was fired up, I felt I was ready, I felt that whatever Matt Kuchar was going to do on the day, I was just going to go one better but it wasn’t said in a disrespectful way, in an arrogant way, I was just saying I am going to play better than him today and I think it got under a few of the players’ skin.  I know Woods went running back in the locker room and told Kuchar what he thought, which was good or bad.  I went out there and delivered my point, like I said I would.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I heard he had said that from one of my vice-captains, I think it was Darren Clarke.  I went, ‘What? He said what?  He’s going to deliver?’ and he meant it.  

COREY PAVIN, US RYDER CUP CAPTAIN, 2010: I think there are some players that like to say things like that, I think there have been a few in the past, and that’s up to them, that’s their personality and they thrive on that, some people need to say that to get themselves going and maybe he’s a player that’s like that and it’s worked very well for him.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It’s one thing saying all these things, Ian Poulter in the Ryder Cup backs it up.  Ian Poulter says it and means it, big difference.

IAN POULTER: You can’t be shy, you can’t be timid, you can’t show any form of weakness in any way, shape or form or you’re going to get trodden all over.  The Ryder Cup is ruthless and players are ruthless, you can’t give an inch because they’ll take a mile and I stood by my word.

TIM BARTER: Was there ever a moment you regretted saying it?

IAN POULTER: No. 

TIM BARTER: Great shot.

IAN POULTER: Nice shot, Luke, very good. 

TIM BARTER: Very nicely done.  Now we’ve spoken about your competitive spirit and we’ve seen it so many times, you wear your heart on your sleeve on the golf course, where does that come from?  You said you came from a competitive household, is it from a child?

IAN POULTER: My dad, my dad was always wanting to be a football player, good at all sports and kind of ingrained in me very early don’t play to take part, play to win and he didn’t tell me once, he told me about a hundred thousand times so I’m one of those guys that wants to win at everything I do and it’s never left me.  I found it very useful and I have found it useful as the years have gone on to want to know the will to win comes from inside and I think it makes a difference.

TIM BARTER: It’s been said you’re a frustrated footballer yourself, is that true?

IAN POULTER: Yes, I probably was, yes.  I had my trials, it didn’t work out and I think in some respects I’ve now got the best of both.  I get the team spirit thing in the Ryder Cup which is absolutely sensational yet I can also be myself on the golf course as well for the rest of the times I play.

TIM BARTER: So Ian, Luke has you under a fair amount of pressure, he’s hit two beautiful shots into position, you’re giving him a shot, tell us a little bit about your mind-set in Ryder Cup, when you are hitting an approach shot into the green or a four ball, tell us what’s going through your mind, 16th hole, it’s all square, what’s going through your mind?

IAN POULTER: Well I’ve got 132 yards, it’s a good number for a nice smooth wedge, it sounds silly to say but you’re trying to hole it, you really are.  The chances of you holing it is going to be slim but you have a chance and you just literally zoom into that target.  You don’t see the fans, you don’t hear the fans, you literally just see the target and that’s it.

TIM BARTER: Let’s imagine another scenario, your opponent has hit themselves into trouble and the green is sitting there bare and empty, again same attitude or is this I need to be a bit cautious now because I might win it?

IAN POULTER: It depends on the pin location.  If it’s foursomes, if your opponent is in a bit of trouble, obviously you don’t need to take on a risky shot but you still want to put them under the most pressure you can possibly put them under and if you are feeling good then yes, you should be taking on a pin location that is one that you should be going for.  If it’s a real tight pin and there is trouble, obviously don’t make a silly mistake, don’t allow them back in the hole. 

TIME BARTER: Right, high time we hit this one, come on.

IAN POULTER: Let’s do it. 

IN HIS THIRD RYDER CUP APPEARANCE
IAN POULTER CONTINUED HIS REMARKABLE RECORD
WINNING 3 OF 4 MATCHES
HE WAS EUROPE’S TOP POINT SCORER FOR A SECOND TIME

COREY PAVIN: He is a very confident player, very formidable, he’s proven that over and over again.  Some guys love to play Ryder Cup and he’s one of them.  It’s good to be confident as long as you can back it up, which he has done very nicely.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: He brings belief into who he is playing with, his partner the first four rounds and his own belief in the singles.  You watch that scoreboard and Poulter’s name goes up in blue, it brings momentum, it does, there’s no question and I would throw him out first in the singles  It’s like your best penalty taker, get him out there first.  Argentina did it with Messi, first, score that goal, give us momentum.  Poulter’s our Messi.

TIM BARTER: I saw you at one point hole a particular putt and celebrate it and as you celebrated you glanced across at Kuchar and he looked like a beaten man.  Did you sense during that match, I’ve got him?

IAN POULTER: That was a putt on a par three, it was after the shot I’d holed for an eagle, holed out from the middle of the fairway.  

COMMENTATOR: Oh quite simply Ian Poulter is brilliant when it comes to the Ryder Cup.

IAN POULTER: It was a big putt and to hole that putt sometimes you will have a look at the player just to see what the reaction is and at the time I think for him it was probably a case that he felt he was being suffocated in that situation and there was nothing that he was able to do to fight back at that stage, it was another blow for him.  

COMMENTATOR: He’s done it in great style, just as he did two years’ ago.  It’s a splendid display of golf from Ian Poulter, six under par from fourteen, too hot to handle for Matt Kuchar and the Europeans points tally heads in the right direction for the first time today.  

IAN POULTER: I remember being at the back of the green, the putt, he tried to get out but it went in, he willed it in and it dropped and I just remember the roar and the buzz and the crowd going bananas and that was an incredible putt to hole at an incredible time.  

TIM BARTER: How special to win in front of your home fans in such dramatic style after such a long week, try and sum it all up?

IAN POULTER: Just a long emotional week from start to finish and obviously you forget about the rain in that instance and how miserable the first couple of days were.  When you have got the sunshine, the backdrop, the home support, the fans and the trophy, you’re passionate, you’re happy and you can have a good party.  

TIM BARTER: They say you make friends for life in Ryder Cup situations, is that your experience?

IAN POULTER: Absolutely.  I’ve made more friends and got closer to players than I would have ever expected only in the weeks of the Ryder Cup.  It somehow grips you in a way and grips players and yeah, I mean it holds friendships for life.  

END OF PART THREE

PART FOUR

MEDINAH, CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 2010

ANNOUNCER: From England, Ian Poulter. 

FOR A SECOND TIME POULTER IS A WILDCARD SELECTION

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL, RYDER CUP CAPTAIN 2012: I saw Ian at Valhalla and Celtic Manor, his spirit, his passion for the event and I had no doubts about that.

IAN POULTER: I had a pretty big bulls eye on my back that week, knowing obviously what happened last time around and saying I was going to deliver my point and delivering my point.  I was fully aware of the passion that would get thrown my way.  I was sitting next to Justin on the stage as the first round picks were coming out and I turned to him and I said, ‘I think it’s Woods and Stricker’.

US CAPTAIN: We’re going with Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods.

IAN POULTER: I just knew that match would be Woods and Stricker and I’d read in the press the day before that Stricker wanted to beat me and the fact that Tiger had actually played me twice and beat me twice, I turned to Justin and said, ‘Yes, we’ve got our pairing.’  To know you’re playing two guys that really want to beat you, there was a nice friction, the right friction, respectful friction between the two pairings. They knew how much we wanted to beat them.

COMMENTATOR: Come on, come on, come on … doesn’t he love this competition!  Fancy doing that to Tiger.  He loves this.

IAN POULTER: We took that match and I was proud to get that one in the bank, not to get one over on Woods but I mean he’s had two on me.  It was time that that table turned.

COMMENTATOR: Superb performance from Ian Poulter and Rose.

TIM BARTER: We’ve seen you hole some incredible pressure putts in Ryder Cup situations and to win tournaments, I read a quote from you which said you don’t contemplate missing, tell us about that, tell us about the mind-set when you putt.  

IAN POULTER: I like match play and I like what it stands for, your mentality over putts gives you no other scenario other than hole it, that’s it, simple.  The case is with match play you need to hole the putt, if you hole the putt you win the hole, if you hole the putt you put your opponents under pressure.  Don’t think about anything else because if I’m going to run it three foot past I’m going to go ahead and make it anyway so don’t think about what if, just think about I’m going to hole my putt.

TIM BARTER: Let’s see you now, good to your word. You’re under pressure.

IAN POULTER: I know he is going to hole his so I have to hole mine.  What do you reckon, Luke?

TIM BARTER: Oh ho!  Come on Luke, it’s our chance, let’s go and hole this putt. Can you believe that? You don’t believe in letting your kids win do you?

IAN POULTER: No, I will not allow …

TIM BARTER: We’ll give him that Luke, okay, come on, this is it, moment of glory.

IAN POULTER: No, I don’t allow them to win, they need to earn their winning rights for themselves.  See the line?  Knock it in and fist pump it home.

TIM BARTER: Great golfing!

IAN POULTER: Well done, well played you, nice golf.  Well done, good work. 

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the second day morning matches in the 39th Ryder Cup.  Representing Europe, Ian Poulter.

TIM BARTER: At what point did you know what he’d done and when did you make the decision to do what you then did?

IAN POULTER: Friday afternoon, watching some of the coverage, I said to Justin, ‘Listen, Bubba is probably going to do it again and I’m not going to allow that to happen so I’m going to make sure we get ours in first.’  He kind of gave me a funny look and I can remember walking down the steps feeling a buzz before I even got on the tee box and I stood there and I’m like, okay, it’s time to see him go crazy and I’ve got to hit the tee shot, what am I doing?  Okay, fine, let’s embrace it and let’s get this match started.  I was definitely going to make contact but it was a case of where it was going to go, it was going forward somewhere.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL, Ryder Club Captain 2012: That was amazing, I have to say.  I think it caught everyone by surprise.  It is important in the sense that it can lift the spirit of your playing partners, not just the action but the way he shows his emotions during the matches, how much he is into the match itself, he is ready to give his best.  We saw that especially that Saturday afternoon.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON, DAY 2

THE USA LEADS THE RYDER CUP 10-5

A SHELLSHOCKED EUROPEAN TEAM WAS ON ITS KNEES

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It’s a hole now, it was serious yesterday evening, now it’s a hole.

MAN: It’s a tough, tough hole to climb out of, now they are going to have to start making birdies.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: The lowest part of the week was early Saturday afternoon, I knew then that if any of those last few matches were lost, the match was pretty much over.

TIM BARTER: Midway through the afternoon, the Americans had won the first two matches, you’re two down with six to play, it’s not looking good. How were you feeling personally then?

IAN POULTER: I was feeling a little deflated. Even though you’ve been out there and put some points on the board, the team’s taking a battering and that was hard.  It was a case that they had such a long stretch of momentum, it’s got to change at some stage.

TIM BARTER: Your next five holes will live in the memory of every golf fan forever, how do you explain what you did?

IAN POULTER: I don't know because it’s too cheesy to say it just happens but there’s a lot of golf to be played in that just happen.

MICHAEL JORDAN: Well I’m trying not to get in their way but I’m a bit sports fan obviously, I’m here for enthusiasm and motivation in whatever way I can.

IAN POULTER: Michael Jordan is doing what Michael Jordan does best and that’s intimidate players.  I guess I was flattered, Michael Jordan is showing a sign of respect by trying to mess with me.  This isn’t a game of basketball, this is me playing golf so you may well sit over there and try and intimidate me but I’m not going to allow it to happen.  I saw him standing over on the right hand side at sixteen.

COMMENTATOR: It’s not far away, it’s in the middle of the hole.  Astonishing the way he putts in this competition.

IAN POULTER: And there he was, he was in my way walking from sixteen to seventeen and I kind of gave him a wry smile then as if to say, done it again, because that’s what he was doing to me.  It certainly inspired me to go out and sure, go birdie seventeen and eighteen.

COMMENTATOR: Yes, he has indeed, that’s four birdies in a row just when they were needed.

IAN POULTER: I’d done my usual 360 around the hole and as I got to behind the hole, I remember as I kind of just flick up, this all happened within milliseconds as I’m walking round, I just pan across the entire American team – Davis, vice-captains, players, they were all there.  As I read my line and I get up, I scan the entire European team and I am like, I just want to send these guys nuts.  As I’ve hit it, I know where it’s going, I know it’s going in the middle and I know I can just turn to that team and let them get fired up.  That’s sometimes what changes a team.

COMMENTATOR: Right in the heart of the hole, a five birdie finish and he has given hope to a European side that looked totally lost as little as two hours ago.  Legendary golf from Ian Poulter.

TIM BARTER: I’ve always wanted to learn the Poulter celebration, can you teach us how to do it, the bug eyes and all that?

IAN POULTER: Well it’s really hard, isn’t it, because you need the adrenaline from within to come out.  Can you do it, Luke?  You’ve shown me once before.  Okay, I’ll do it.  Come on!

TIM BARTER: Luke’s got to have a go!

IAN POULTER: Come on Luke, I want to see it, pure Poulter passion.  Come on, it’s within you, let’s see it!

LUKE POULTER: Come on! 

IAN POULTER: Yeah!  Yes, it’s in there somewhere.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE, Ryder Cup Captain 2010: It’s very rare that one guy can be so important within twelve.  You think it takes all twelve, we’ve always said that, the Ryder Cup takes all twelve of you to play that way.  On this occasion it was one on a Saturday night that won that Ryder Cup.

FRED COUPLES, US VICE-CAPTAIN 2012: What he did the last couple of holes, that was some unbelievable match but man, that putt on eighteen, it didn’t take the wind out of our sails but it put them to a decibel that went sky-rocketing.

SIR NICK FALDO, Ryder Cup Captain 2008: Four points back in the Ryder Cup, you’re dead, you’re done, you’ve lost but when they walked off that green they weren’t beaten.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: They came in 10-6 down and as American commentators said, that’s a 10-6 tie.

SIR NICK FALDO: He kept them alive with one slim chance and then the next day they took it.

FRED COUPLES: Wow, what a Sunday for Europe.  

WEARING THE FAMOUS NAVY BLUE OF THEIR HERO, SEVE BALLASTEROS

AND INSPIRED BY IAN POULTER’S DRAMATIC SATURDAY NIGHT HEROICS

A GALVANISED EUROPEAN TEAM STAGED AN UNLIKELY COMEBACK

THEIR 8½ TO 3½ SINGLES DEFEAT OF THE USA PROPELLED THEM TO AN HISTORIC VICTORY

IN SCENES QUICKLY LABELLED ‘THE MIRACLE AT MEDINAH’

IAN POULTER: It just shows you what willpower will do in Ryder Cup.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I had a few thoughts for my friend Seve and this one is for him.

IAN POULTER: I remember looking at Ollie and I had to hug him.  He cried, I cried and we cried for five minutes.  No words had to be exchanged, it was just a sign of I can’t believe this has just happened.  It means so much to him as a captain, as Seve’s friend, team mate, to be able to take it home.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: He reminds me quite a bit about Seve.

TONY JACKLIN CBE, CAPTAIN 1983-1989: He was like a one man army and of course Poulter is not that much different.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: He is as important to our team right now as Seve was in  his heyday.

TONY JACKLIN: The things he’s done are virtually impossible.  He is a big part of Ryder Cup folklore now and he always will be.

IAN POULTER: When you hear those things it sends goosebumps all over your body because I look up to these people and these players that I’ve respected for my entire career and as a boy, sleeping in a tent and watching Ollie and Seve go out there and play golf and to have people say that, to have Ollie say what he said, it still affects me today because he’s given me the most incredible words that I’ve ever heard. 

TO DATE IAN POULTER’S RYDER CUP RECORD IS 12-3-0

HIS WINNING PERCENTAGE IS A STAGGERING 80% OF PLAYERS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN FOUR OR MORE RYDER CUPS

IT IS THE HIGHEST IN RYDER CUP HISTORY

IAN POULTER: I don't know how you can one-up the Ryder Cup.  

END