Ian Poulter broke his American duck when he outplayed fellow Briton Paul Casey 4 and 2 to win the Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain on Sunday.
“To finally win over here, it means everything,” Poulter told reporters. “I’m just so happy to finally win on American soil. I was very comfortable on the course today. I felt in control of my game all week. I don’t know if there was any given point where it was going to be my week [but] I just felt very calm.”
The win gave Poulter a US$1.4 million winner’s check and propelled him to fifth in the world rankings, but the Briton said he would have to hold off on the celebrations.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I can’t see myself having too many drinks tonight because I might wake up with a sore head tomorrow,” Poulter, who was scheduled to tape a television advertisement in California early yesterday, told reporters.
Poulter, who collected his first ATP title and 10th European Tour win with the victory, was quoted in media reports a couple of years ago saying he felt he could challenge Tiger Woods for the top ranking, were he to fulfill his potential.
“I didn’t quite say it was just me and Tiger [but] I just felt that if I could deliver what I believed I could, then I could put myself in a good situation and I’ve certainly done that over the last 18 months and I’ve certainly been able to deliver on that today,” he said.
PHOTO: AFP
Poulter dominated most of the 36-hole final, trailing for only one hole early before taking the lead for good at the seventh. He was two-up after 18 holes and never led by less during the second round.
“Ian played great stuff,” Casey told reporters.
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