Punter puts faith in Poulter

Ian Poulter has backed himself to defend his Celtic Manor Wales Open title this week – although to nowhere near the same extent as one supporter.

Poulter was a 125-1 outsider when he arrived at Wentwood Hills last year on the back of five missed cuts in his previous six events.

The 28-year-old is a much shorter price and firmly among the favourites for the £1.5m (€2.3m) event in Newport this week, but that has not stopped one punter placing £15,000 (€22,500) on the Englishman at 14-1 to be holding the trophy aloft again on Sunday.

“I would say it’s a smart bet, but then it’s not my money,” said Poulter, just a few days after shock PGA Championship winner Scott Drummond revealed he had backed himself at 500-1 at Wentworth.

“It would be fantastic to defend the title. I’m playing well enough. I just need to hole a few more putts and if I do then I have a great chance to win the tournament.”

Poulter admitted frustration got the better of him at Wentworth last week when he followed consecutive rounds of 68 with scores of 77 and 74 over the weekend.

Putting has been his Achilles heel all season but a lesson from coach David Leadbetter last week could have provided the solution.

“He said I was gripping the putter too tight and when I loosened up I started to get the feel back on Thursday and Friday,” added Poulter, who currently lies ninth in the Ryder Cup qualifying table.

“But when things weren’t going my way on Saturday all those good thoughts went out of the window and I let it get on top of me.

“You can’t afford to do that and if you let it snowball you have a bad day and that’s how easy it is to go from eight under to one under. You live and learn.”