Newsday (N.Y.): Well-rested Poulter reaches match play final

By Art Spander

Special to Newsday

MARANA, Ariz. -- Ian Poulter's route to golfing success was different from most others. Born and raised in England, he went to work in a pro shop, and could only steal a few moments each day to develop his game.

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RealClearSports: Noisy Poulter Gets Tiger's Goat

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Quiet, please. For a sport whose roots grew in silence, that is golf's ultimate expression, And maybe one which needs to apply to people other than spectators.

Dan Jenkins wrote once the best shots at the Masters are those poured on the upstairs porch of the clubhouse. These days they may be the ones fired back and forth between Ian Poulter and Tiger Woods.

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© RealClearSports 2011

Newsday (N.Y.): Ryder Cup: Tiger, Stricker in third pairing for opening round

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

NEWPORT, Wales -- Corey Pavin said he wasn't hoping for anything. He created his opening Ryder Cup pairings not on what the weather might be -- the forecast was for Bethpage bleak -- and not on whom the opponents might be but what he thought was best for the American team.

So Tiger Woods, who in the five previous Ryder Cups he's played has been in the leadoff slot, will be in the third group of fourballs (better-ball) Friday when the 38th Cup begins at Celtic Manor.

Two rookies, Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton, are paired. And Jim Furyk, who won $11.35 million and the FedEx Cup last Sunday, will be on the bench.

Woods and Steve Stricker, an expected pairing, will face Europe's Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher.

After the uproar about 21-year-old Rory McIlroy wanting to challenge Woods, Pavin was asked whether he hoped McIlroy would be in that same third pairing as Woods. "I wasn't hoping for anything,'' said the U.S. captain. "I put Tiger and Steve in that slot just [because] I thought it was a good slot for them.''

The morning lineup was, in order, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson of the U.S. against Lee Westwood-Martin Kaymer of Europe;Stewart Cink-Matt Kuchar vs. McIlroy and fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell; Woods-Stricker vs. Poulter-Fisher and Watson-Overton vs. Luke Donald-Padraig Harrington.

During the fancy opening ceremonies Thursday afternoon, Pavin forgot to introduce Cink.

Four foursomes (alternate shot) matches, are scheduled for this afternoon. The Americans who were idle in the morning, Furyk,Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan, will almost certainly be called on to play.

Asked his logic for holding out Furyk in the morning, Pavin joked, "Well, he said he's been tired. He was counting his money, and he's been very tired.''

He also said he wanted Mickelson and Johnson to start off. "Phil likes to get out there and get at it,'' was Pavin's explanation, "andDustin has been chomping at the bit.''

He also seemed oblivious of the forecast of rain which might force officials to allow golfers to lift, clean and place balls on a course already soggy.

"I just wanted to send out guys that I thought were very good at better-ball and send them out. Weather is not a factor," said Pavin.

Pavin's wife, Lisa, sarcastically referred to as "The Captainess,'' was the object of a scornful article in Thursday's, London Daily Telegraph. The author, Oliver Brown called her a "loopy narcissist'' who could trigger an international incident.

She and other wives of players on both teams were, along with their husbands, part of a black-tie gala Wednesday evening at Millennium Stadium in nearby Cardiff that featured Wales natives Catherine Zeta-Jones and Shirley Bassey.

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Newsday (N.Y.): Alluring Pebble proves bedeviling course

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- It's the signature hole of Pebble Beach, a par-3 that pokes into Carmel Bay beguiles golfers with its beauty and sometimes baffles them its demands. You can putt onto the green from the tee, as did Sam Snead once, or you can be forced to use a 3-iron if the wind is in your face.

"How on Earth," mused Ian Poulter out loud as he walked to the 109-yard seventh Saturday, "are you supposed to play to that?''

Very carefully. Very tactically. As virtually every hole at Pebble, site of a U.S. Open for the fifth time. Especially the holes, such as the seventh, which are on the bluffs above the central California coast.

There's nothing quite like Pebble. Poulter managed a bogey 4 on the seventh Saturday. The biggest problem is the view. The player stands on the tee, looking at the surf crashing or maybe the Santa Lucia Mountains and sometimes loses concentration, not to mention an occasionally errant golf ball.

Pebble is like that. There's beauty everywhere. There's trouble everywhere. David Duval, who did so well in last year's Open at Bethpage, shot 31 on the front nine Saturday. He was a contender. Then he had a 7-over-par 43 on the back.

And how about Mike Weir? The opening round, he was among the leaders with a 1-under 70. After Saturday, he was among the bottom-dwellers, having shot a 12-over 83, despite an eagle 2 on the short fourth. Of course, he also had three double-bogeys.

Someone nicknamed Pebble "Double-Bogey-by-the-Sea," and the description is not inaccurate. Tons of those, and on the par-5 14th hole, numerous triple-bogeys. Friday on 14, which doesn't come close to the water, Zach Johnson destroyed his round with a quadruple-bogey 9.

"It's a beautiful, great course," insisted Poulter, the Englishman.

How do you do play it? As well as you can.

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Newsday: This Masters is taking on an English accent

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

Hoist a glass of Tetley's Bitter.

Have a plate of bangers and mash.

Sing a few choruses of "God Save the Queen.''

Tiger Woods' impressive return to golf notwithstanding, this Masters has taken on an English accent.

Halfway through Masters 2010, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, English to the core, share the lead with 8-under-par totals of 136. If this keeps up, the Waffle House on Riverwatch Parkway may put bubble and squeak on the menu in place of grits.

Only the other day, Westwood said, "I think en masse, we are more equipped to go mob-handed to the major championships now."

What happened Friday at Augusta National lent support to his premise.

Westwood, who will be 37 before the end of April, shot a 3-under 69, which included an eagle 3 on the second hole and a double-bogey 6 on the 14th. The 36-year-old Poulter had a 4-under 68 with five birdies and only one bogey, that coming unfortunately at 18.

So the two Brits, who will be paired in Saturday's round, are two shots ahead of Woods, K.J. Choi, Ricky Barnes, Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson.

"If you had bothered to look at the world rankings,'' Westwood pointed out, "and seen how many English players were up there, and three in the top 10 [Westwood, 4; Paul Casey, 6; Poulter, 7], we're not there by mistake.

"We ought to be contending in these major championships, in the biggest events where the best players contend.''

They are. And they have been.

Poulter, the guy who used to wear trousers made from a Union Jack, finished second to Padraig Harrington in the 2008 British Open. Westwood came within a putt of tying Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open, ending up third, and last year was third in both the British Open, also missing the playoff by a shot, and the PGA Championship.

Winner of the Accenture Match Play in February at Tucson, Poulter was called one of the favorites for this Masters, and that didn't displease him a bit.

"I like that it's going to put a bit of pressure on me,'' Poulter said. "It's going to make me focus. This is a golf course you can't let your mind wander at all, in any way, shape or form. Otherwise, it will penalize you badly.''

Westwood was brilliant a decade ago, even leading the 1999 Masters briefly. He slumped badly in the mid 2000s but came back in 2008.

Asked what a win in a major would mean, Westwood, who has victories on every continent, said, "It's the only thing really missing in my career.''

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