Poulter will fight on after blow to pride

For once, Ian Poulter talked the talk but couldn’t walk the walk.

The lionhearted European superhero, unbeaten hero of Medinah two years ago, saw his Kryptonite unearthed at Gleneagles yesterday in the form of a pair of Texan rookies.

Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed defeated Poulter and Stephen Gallacher 5&4 during the morning fourballs having exposed the Englishman’s poor form this season as a continuing problem that even the white heat of the Ryder Cup could not strip away.