Ian Poulter
England
Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English professional golfer who is a member of the world's top two professional golf tours, the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. He is the touring professional for Woburn Golf and Country Club which is situated in Buckinghamshire.
Personal information
Full name Ian James Poulter
Born 10 January 1976 (1976-01-10) (age 36)
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 189 lb (86 kg; 13.5 st)
Nationality England
Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Career
Turned professional 1995
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 2005)
European Tour (joined 2000)
Professional wins 13
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 1
European Tour 11
Japan Golf Tour 1
Asian Tour 1
Challenge Tour 1
Other 1
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament T10: 2010
U.S. Open T12: 2006
The Open Championship 2nd: 2008
PGA Championship T9: 2006
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
Biography
Born in Hitchin, Poulter took up the game aged 4 when his single-handicap father, Terry, gave him a cut-down 3-wood. His older brother Danny is also a professional golfer.
Career
Unable to get a place as a pro at a private club, Poulter became the assistant pro and golf shop manager at the Chesfield Downs Golf Club.There he was forced by his boss to pay a full green fee every time he wanted to play in a competition. His handicap hence stayed at four, because he did not play in competitions.He has his own brand of clothing called IJP Design which he started in 2007. Poulter has never made a profit from IJP design
Poulter turned professional in 1996 aged 19, gaining his first win at the 1999 Open de Côte d'Ivoire on the European Tour's second tier Challenge Tour; he won promotion to the European Tour itself via the qualifying school later that year. In his first season, he claimed the Italian Open title and was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2000. Further wins followed in each of the next four seasons, most prestigiously the season ending "tour championship" the Volvo Masters in 2004. He was in the top ten on the Order of Merit in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2009. In 2010, he finished 4th on the Order of Merit, his highest placing so far.
After narrowly missing a place in the 2002 European Ryder Cup team, Poulter was a member of the victorious squad in 2004, where he officially scored the winning points for his team. This entitled him to take up membership of the PGA Tour in 2005, and he divided his time between the two tours since then.
At the 2008 Masters Tournament, Poulter made a hole-in-one at the 16th hole at Augusta National in the first round. At the 2008 Open Championship, Poulter had the clubhouse lead on the last round before being beaten by defending champion Pádraig Harrington. In the 2008 Ryder Cup, Poulter was the highest points scorer on either side as he scored 4 of Europe's 11.5 points. Europe lost the Ryder Cup 16.5-11.5.
In the 2009 Players Championship, Poulter finished in sole possession of second place at eight under-par, four shots behind the winner, Henrik Stenson. In November 2009, Poulter won the Barclays Singapore Open at the Sentosa Club.
Poulter moved into the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings in January 2010 with a second place finish at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. In February 2010, he won his first tournament on U.S. soil, beating fellow Englishman Paul Casey 4&2 in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. The win moved him to 5th in the world rankings. In November 2010, he won his second title of the year with a one-stroke victory in the UBS Hong Kong Open.
On 23 February 2011, in Marana, Arizona, Poulter became the first defending champion in nine years to be eliminated in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He did however enjoy greater success in the European Tour's own match play event, the Volvo World Match Play Championship where he won the title beating Ryder Cup team mate Luke Donald 2&1 in the final. He had previously beaten the world number one Lee Westwood, Francesco Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts to get to the final. This was Poulter's second tournament win in a match play event and eleventh European Tour victory. As a result of his win Poulter moved up from 22nd to 14th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Clothing Poulter is well known for his often radical dress sense, inspired by his mother who managed the Letchworth branch of UK women's fashion chain Dorothy Perkins. His most famous pieces include trousers featuring the famous Claret Jug, worn at both the 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. Commentating for the BBC, Seve Ballesteros jibed that this was "the closest [Poulter] would ever get to it". He will also often match his sunglasses to his shirt and hat colour, in addition to wearing brightly coloured and patterned trousers.
Poulter is well known for being an avid fan of the London-based football club Arsenal FC. He has on several occasions appeared with the team's crest on his shoes, and he even controversially wore the team's shirt during an event (immediately after the event the rule was changed to stop future players wearing football jerseys).
In addition to his golfing career, Poulter launched Ian Poulter Design (IJP) in the summer of 2007.
Professional wins (13) PGA Tour wins (1) European Tour wins (10) Challenge Tour wins (1)
Japan Tour Win (1) 2007 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament
Asian Tour wins (1) 2009 Barclays Singapore Open (co-sanctioned by the European Tour)
Other wins (1) 2010 The Shark Shootout (with Dustin Johnson)
Player profile is based on the information provided by www.en.wikipedia.org