Ian Poulter

Poulter took up the game at age 4 when his single-handicap father, Terry, gave him a cut-down 3-wood. His older brother, Danny, is also a professional golfer. Ian displayed his considerable ability in match-play golf in 2012, when he went 4-0-0 at the 2012 Ryder Cup. His inspired play all week helped fuel a come-from-behind win for Europe. He defeated Webb Simpson, 2-up, in his singles match.
In 2011, he won the Volvo World Match Play Championship, defeating compatriot Luke Donald in the final. The previous year, he became the first English winner of a WGC event when he captured the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Was in contention for the Masters that year but had to settle for T-10th. Made a huge contribution to Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup victory, winning three points out of four at the Celtic Manor Resort. That performance continued his fine Ryder Cup record, having been the leading points scorer, with four out of five, at Valhalla in 2008 after being selected as a wild-card pick.
Ended 2010 with a victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open, and nearly won the season-ending Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, but lost in a playoff to Robert Karlsson. The 2nd-place finish, though, was enough to finish a career-high 4th in the Race to Dubai. Also broke into the Official World Golf Ranking top-5 for the first time during 2010 and ended the season in 8th position. Renowned for his flair and fashion, Poulter launched his own clothing line in 2007. He is a heavy user of the social media site Twitter. Won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award in 2000 and four years later made a successful Ryder Cup debut as part of Bernhard Langer's victorious European Team.
2010 Notes: Playing both the PGA and European Tours, Poulter started strong with a win at the WGC-Accenture, but finished the year with only one additional PGA Tour top-10, at the Masters. Member of the victorious European Ryder Cup squad and finished his year with a win in Hong Kong.
2011 Notes: Made 12 of 16 cuts but only had one top-10 finish, which came in his first start of the year at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, where he placed T-6th. Had the lowest finish in the FedExCup standings (87th) since 2008. At the JBWere Masters in Melbourne, Australia, he came from two strokes back on the final day with a four-under-par 67 to defeat Marcus Fraser by three strokes.
2012 Notes: Helped lead the Europeans to a come-from-behind win at the Ryder Cup. Finished T-3rd at the PGA Championship to record top-10s in three of his four major starts (7th at the Masters and T-9th at the British Open). Ended the year by winning his second WGC event, the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, in which he overcame a four-stroke deficit to win by two.
2013 Notes: Finished 4th at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, losing to defending champion Hunter Mahan 4 & 3 in the semifinals. At the British Open, he fired a final-round 67 that secured a T-3rd finish. On the PGA Tour, finished 53rd in the FedExCup standings and 49th on the money list. Ended his European Tour year with runner-up finishes at the WGC-HSBC Champions and the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Wedged between those results was a T-5th at the Turkish Airlines Open. Finished 2nd in the Race to Dubai.
2014 Notes: Started the year runner-up at the WGC-HSBC Championship, was T-5th at the Volvo China Open and T-6th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. On the PGA Tour, made 13 of 17 cuts. Finished T-23rd at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but it was not enough to advance to the third FedExCup playoffs event, ending his season at No. 78 in the standings and 63rd on the money list. It was only the third time in eight years of the playoffs that Poulter finished outside the top-60. On the European Tour, ended his year with a T-6th at the WGC-HSBC Champions and 2nd at the Turkish Airlines Open. After a T-21st at the DP World Tour Championship Dubai, he finished 13th in the Race to Dubai. At the Ryder Cup, he went 0-1-2 in his four matches in the European team's five-point victory over the U.S.
2015 Notes: Started his PGA Tour year with a T-6th at the WGC-HSBC Champions. In the weather-forced Monday finish at the Honda Classic, took a three-stroke lead at nine-under into the final round, which began Sunday afternoon and ended Monday morning. However, two double bogeys and a triple bogey led to a four-over 74 and a T-3rd finish, one stroke out of the playoff between Daniel Berger and Padraig Harrington. At the Masters, he finished T-6th and was T-5th at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Played in the Handa Global Cup in Japan and was T-4th. Had a busy end to the season, making a last-minute dash to play in the UBS Hong Kong Open. He had dropped out of the world's top 50 the week before, meaning he would not qualify for the WGC-HSBC Champions and, therefore, would be one short of the minimum 13 events necessary to retain his European Tour membership. Was able to fulfill those minimum requirements and finished 39th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: Secured his first top-10 with a T-3rd finish at the Puerto Rico Open. Limited to just 13 starts on the PGA Tour, the last being a missed cut at the Dean & Deluca Invitational, due to injury. Missed the playoffs for the first time since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007. Poulter had been dealing with an arthritic joint in his right foot for more than two years, and it reached the point where it was painful to walk and practice. He decided to sit and rest the foot, so he didn't play in another event for 20 weeks. That meant missing the Ryder Cup for the first time in 10 years.
2017 Notes: He returned to the PGA Tour at the CIMB Classic and was given a 10-event medical exemption. Poulter needed $347,634 or 218.42 FedExCup points to retain his full card. When he missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open, his 10th exemption, it appeared that he fell short of retaining his card. But because of a modification to the FedExCup points curve, both Poulter and Brian Gay, also on a medical exemption, would have been over the threshold of the old point system that was in place when they both started their medical exemptions. So, the tour grandfathered both Poulter and Gay and gave them a full status for the rest of the year. With a second chance, Poulter was able to play at The Players Championship and finished T-2nd, three strokes behind winner Si Woo Kim. Opened strong at the Scottish Open with rounds of 67-69, but over the weekend stumbled to 71-79 to fall into a T-9th, his best finish in a European Tour event since a 2nd-place result at the Turkish Airlines Open. Finished 3rd, one stroke out of the Vegas/Hoffman playoff, at the RBC Canadian Open. Ended the season 53rd in the FedExCup standings, his best showing since finishing 39th in 2012. Made the cut at the first three FedExCup playoffs, ending his season with a T-40th at the BMW Championship. Went back to the European Tour and was T-11th at the British Masters. He ended his season 61st in the Race to Dubai, his lowest finish on the European Tour.
2018 Notes: Played 14 European Tour events, making 14 cuts with one top-10 finish. Was 37th in the Race to Dubai. Played 20 PGA Tour events and made 16 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Placed 50th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-6th at the Dubai Desert Classic, which moved him to 57th in the Official World Golf Ranking and closer to his goal of getting into the WGC-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Match Play Championship, and possibly the Masters. He reached the Match Play event and made it out of his group, then defeated Louis Oosthuizen, 2 & 1, in the round of 16. He was told that an appearance in the quarterfinals got him into the top-50 and a trip to the Masters, but the information was wrong, and Poulter had to win his quarterfinal match. He lost to Kevin Kisner, 8 & 6, and was 51st in the rankings, one spot out of qualifying for the Masters. He went to Houston, but after shooting 73 in the first round, he believed he would miss the cut. He shot 64-65-67, though, to tie for the lead with Beau Hossler and then won the playoff with a par at the first extra hole, which got him into the Masters. He finished T-44th at Augusta National. The next week, Poulter had a one-shot lead going into the RBC Heritage final round but shot 75 and finished T-7th, three shots out of the playoff. Finished T-8th at the Italian Open and T-10th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Advanced to the FedExCup playoffs for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Ended the season 50th in the FedExCup standings. Was a captain's pick at the Ryder Cup and went 2-2-0 in his sixth appearance. Defeated Dustin Johnson 2-up in the singles to increase his record to five wins, no losses, and one halve.
2019 Notes: Played in 17 European Tour events, making 12 cuts with five top-10 finishes. Was 27th in the Race to Dubai. Played in 18 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He ranked 41st in the final FedExCup standings. Started the year with a T-10th finish at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges. Had a successful Desert Swing on the European Tour, finishing T-6th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, T-3rd at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and T-6th at the Saudi International. He continued his good play with a T-3rd finish at the WGC-Mexico Championship. At the WGC-Dell Match Play, he finished T-17th, winning two of his three matches (including a win over eventual winner Kevin Kisner, 2-up) but failed to advance from group play when Kisner defeated him in a group playoff. Was T-12th at the Masters despite shooting a final-round 73. At the RBC Heritage, again shot 73 in the final round to finish T-10th. Was 8th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and started the FedExCup playoffs with a T-10th finish at the Northern Trust. His PGA Tour season ended with a T-31st finish at the BMW Championship. Went and played in five events on the European Tour, but his best finish was T-39th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in those events.
2020 Notes: Played in 13 PGA Tour events, making 12 cuts with one top-10 finish. He was 88th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-5th at the Workday Charity Open. In the FedExCup playoffs, was T-39th at the Northern Trust. At the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, was T-6th, three strokes out of the Rai/Fleetwood playoff. The next week was 5th at the BMW PGA Championship.
2021 Notes: Was T-12th at the CJ Cup@Shadow Creek.