Poulter unsure on Ryder Cup future even if he qualifies

John Craven
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Ian Poulter (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)

John Craven

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Ian Poulter admits he’d love to qualify for this year’s Ryder Cup, though he’s undecided whether or not he’d tee up in Rome even if he did.

Since joining LIV, European players like Poulter have put their Ryder Cup futures in serious doubt with a February court case set to confirm the eligibility of the likes of Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia going forward.

The man who spearheaded the Miracle on Medinah in 2012 has lost just six of the 22 matches he’s competed in since making his debut at the biennial contest but despite such a record, the Englishman accepts there’s no chance of a Captain’s pick from European skipper Luke Donald should he fail to qualify outright.

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“I would love to qualify. Whether I play or not would be a different thing,” Poulter told reporters ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. “I haven’t given up on anything. If I win these two weeks, who knows?

“I certainly don’t expect to get one of the six [captain’s] picks. Not in any way, shape or form. Which is also a shame. What does that tell you? What is the story there?”

As Poulter would be well are, the story is that he decided to join a less competitive golf tour for guarantee money knowing there would be consequences. In some quarters, his presence in a European locker room would prove divisive, while the world number 151 ranked 47-year old, playing without Major exemptions, would need to conjure another miracle to even come close to making the team.

Calling out Ryder Cup Europe on Twitter for not wishing his 43 year old friend Sergio Garcia a happy birthday last week would hardly have helped his case, and it says a lot that Poulter *almost* regrets his tweet.

“Through time I have said lots of silly things,” Poulter added. “Should I have said it? Yes and no. All I did was highlight a fact. There was no other reason.

“Look, 2022 was full of big distractions. And my full focus for 2023 is to have as little distractions as possible, play good golf and enjoy myself. It was a difficult 2022 with everything that is out there in the public domain.

“And as frustrating as that is for me – when I feel that some of it is really unjust – it has been easy to let things boil over inside. Because the whole story has not quite been told.”

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