Poulter gunning for quick victory

Ian Poulter is hoping to use the cut and thrust of match play to his advantage so he can watch his beloved Arsenal compete in the Champions League.

The 32-year-old Englishman faces Denmark’s Soren Hansen in the first round at the World Golf Championships in Tucson, Arizona tomorrow and an early tee-off time should enable him to settle down and watch the Gunners against European champions AC Milan.

Between now and the start of his match he may worry about the fortunes of Cesc Fabregas and co, but he certainly will not spend any time concerning himself with his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

“I worry about my game and I feel good right now,” said Poulter, who spent last week at his club manufacturer’s testing facility in southern California, where golf is reduced very much to a science.

Poulter, who ended last year on a high note by winning the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan, made headlines at the start of 2008, but it was not his clubs doing the talking.

Instead, it was his provocative comments in a magazine article in which he was quoted saying if he played his best, it was between him and Tiger Woods as to who was the best in the world.

Which made it quite interesting when, shortly after finishing this interview, Woods entered the locker room and jokingly asked “number two” how he was going.

Actually, Poulter seems to be going just great, especially after his week in California.

“It’s good to see what’s happening with your swing, your club and that ball,” he said.

“It’s very interesting to see how the ball is moving, to make sure your driver is right, the spin rate is right. It’s easy to tune up your game in that environment.

“When you’ve got all the data stacked up for you, it makes it easy. I found out some very interesting things, stuff to work on.

“I’m doing a slightly different manoeuvre with the driver to try to hit it a little further, just a very slight swing change.”

Poulter, who has never backed down in his life, loves match play.

“You’re under pressure right from the start. In stroke play, you’ve got four days to slowly get into contention. In match play, you’ve got no time to get into contention,” he added.

“You have to win. It just makes you concentrate harder, which is great.”

Poulter is part of an eight-man British and 19-strong European contingent in the 64-man field, with the United States having barely the largest representation, with 20 players.

Poulter and Hansen will face off in one of three all-European showdowns, with England’s Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty doing battle, while Paul Casey faces Swede Robert Karlsson.

Rising German star Martin Kaymer is not only making his WGC debut, but also playing his first professional tournament in the US. Not that he is a stranger to these parts, having spent much of the winter practising in Arizona.

“It feels a little bit like home,” said 23-year-old Kaymer, whose has made a meteoric rise from obscurity to world-class status in the past 12 months, earning Rookie of the Year honours in Europe last year before capturing the Abu Dhabi Championship in January.

“Germany is so cold, you don’t want to be there (in winter). The facilities here are perfect and I really like the American attitude.

“When I got to the golf course, I said ’I play on the European Tour, is there any chance I can practice here?’ And they said, ’of course you can’.”

Kaymer’s first match is against self-described American redneck Boo Weekley. They are familiar with each other having met at the World Cup in China in November.

In other matches of interest tomorrow, top seed Tiger Woods meets fellow American JB Holmes, while defending champion Henrik Stenson, of Sweden, takes on Australian Robert Allenby.

If past results are anything to go by, the lower seed will win about 50% of the matches, which is hardly surprising given every match other than the final is played over only 18 holes.