Poulter exits Turnberry after harbouring high hopes
TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Twelve months after posting his best finish in a major with a runner-up spot at Royal Birkdale, Ian Poulter crashed out of the British Open with an ugly nine-over-par 79 Friday.
The flamboyantly-dressed Englishman struggled in tricky winds and intermittent rain during the second round, two double-bogeys and one triple ensuring he would miss the cut by a considerable margin.
Although Poulter signed off with a birdie at the 17th, two days of poor golf gave him a 14-over total of 154.
"Seriously there were no decent golf shots out there," the 33-year-old told reporters.
"If you're going to play as bad as I played for two days, it doesn't matter what golf course you're playing.
"It could have been the easiest municipal down the road and I would have missed the cut. It was horrible."
A seven-times winner on the European Tour, Poulter had been one of the favorites at Turnberry, British bookmakers William Hill making him joint second best behind Tiger Woods at 28/1.
An opening 75 in ideal scoring conditions put him on the back foot, however, and his hopes of making the cut effectively disappeared when he double-bogeyed the second and triple-bogeyed the fifth.
"Yesterday I just didn't hit any decent golf shots," Poulter said. "It becomes a long day when you're going to be out there on the golf course when it's playing as easy as it was.
"I'm going out there trying to win the golf tournament and I don't find the middle of the club face for two days.
"I was playing great golf coming into the week, feeling good and loving the golf course," added the Briton, who finished third at this month's French Open before tying for 32nd at the Scottish Open Sunday.
"It's just very disappointing."
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
