The fiery Englishman will return to the region next month to get his season underway and he talks candidly about his relationship with Pete Cowen and what he makes of the young stars making big waves on the European Tour, with one eye on The Ryder Cup.
Ian Poulter has come close to winning in the Middle East on plenty of occasions and he is hoping to get his 2018 off to a flying start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Omega Dubai Desert Classic next month. “Yes I’ll be going to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the start of next year,” smiles the Englishman after sneaking into the top 60 on last year’s Race to Dubai to take his place in the field for the DP World Tour Championship.
“I’m going to rest up, and get in the gym and hopefully I’m going to come in to 2018 pretty strong and I’d like to start the season off strong in the region and hopefully be successful with a trophy.” Poulter has recently begun working with Pete Cowen and he’s happy with how things are going so far.
Working with Pete
“I like Pete a lot; in my eyes he is extremely simple to work with,” he says. “If you’re on the range and your hitting the ball well he allows you just to get on with it – which is great. I think sometimes you can too in depth and that leads to unnecessary practice, you always need to stay fresh and Pete has a great eye for golf.”
With an exemplary Ryder Cup record, Poulter is looking forward to seeing what the new faces will bring to the team in Paris next September.
“I think what Tommy Fleetwood has been able to achieve this year is incredible,” he says. “The level of consistency and the wins he has had means he is prime for Ryder Cup, I think he has proven himself on the main stage and is strong enough as a player to cope with what the Ryder Cup offers. “I also like the look of Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm – those two should make the team on merit. Jon has just won in Dubai and Hatton’s continued form will get them in The Ryder Cup team. Those two guys are passionate and fiery and that’s exactly what a Ryder Cup team needs.”
Worldwide Golf were lucky enough to have this exclusive interview courtesy of Audemars Piguet who Poulter is a long term golf ambassador for.
