Poulter chooses riches of one cup over another
NORTON, Massachusetts (AP) -The British press, which roasted Tiger Woods six years ago for choosing a $1 million (?680,000) payoff over winning the Ryder Cup, has been strangely subdued over Ian Poulter's decision to put the lucrative FedEx Cup over his last chance at making the European team.
The situations are linked by the perception of money.
Woods was leading a World Golf Championship in Ireland after one round in 2002 when he was asked if it was more important that he win the WGC title and its $1 million (?680,000) check or the Ryder Cup the following week. Woods chose the individual title, and when asked to elaborate he famously replied, "I can think of a million reasons why."
Poulter withdrew on Monday from the Johnnie Walker Championship in Scotland, the final Ryder Cup qualifying event. He currently is about $105,000 (?71,400) short of the 10th and final spot and could have made the European team by finishing in the top 5 at Gleneagles.
Instead, he chose to play the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston this week, the second round of the U.S. PGA Tour Playoffs. Poulter missed the cut last week at The Barclays, plunging 26 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 89. Only the top 70 advance to the third round in St. Louis, so to skip Boston would eliminate Poulter from the playoffs and a chance to win the $10 million (?6.8 million) prize.
"It has been an extremely difficult decision to make given my burning desire to represent Europe again in defending the Ryder Cup in the United States," said Poulter, whose only Ryder Cup appearance was in 2004.
The Englishman believed he had to play Boston to keep alive his playoff hopes, and to give him his minimum 15 events on the U.S. PGA Tour to retain his membership. He said he called captain Nick Faldo to explain his decision, "and hope that my performance so far this year will earn one of his two wild card picks."
Faldo already is having to choose among Darren Clarke, who won in Holland for his second victory this year, and Paul Casey, who tied for seventh last week and is 3-2-1 in his two Ryder Cup trips. As for Poulter, his "performance" this year includes only two top 10s - second to Padraig Harrington by four shots at the British Open, and a tie for ninth at Abu Dhabi in January.
Poulter faced a tough decision, no doubt, but if he really wanted to be on the European side, why not go to Scotland to at least give himself a chance? As for his U.S. PGA Tour membership, Poulter had six U.S. PGA tournaments he could have played after the Ryder Cup.
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MASTERS: The volatility in the U.S. PGA Tour Playoffs has the attention of the Masters, which last year updated its criteria to invite the top 30 from the FedEx Cup standings and the top 30 from the U.S. money list.
The Masters prefers to keep its field small, and that wasn't affected by the FedEx Cup. Camilo Villegas was the only player who qualified for the Masters by reaching the final 30 at the Tour Championship.
It's early, but among those moving into the top 30 after one playoff event were Kevin Sutherland (3), Nicholas Thompson (20), Mathew Goggin (26), Ken Duke (28) and Bubba Watson (30).
