Poulter, Majesticks hoping for breakthrough on English soil

ROCESTER, England – Ian Poulter has 17 career professional wins spread across 12 different countries. Surprisingly, he’s never won a pro tournament in his home country of England.

He has fellow Majesticks Golf Club Co-Captain Lee Westwood partially to blame.

Poulter and Westwood entered the final round of the 2007 British Masters at The Belfry tied for second behind fellow Englishman Mark Foster. Westwood ended up winning the title with a superb final-round 65 while Poulter’s 70 left him in solo second.

“Probably the reason I haven’t won in the UK … I was pretty frustrated with Lee’s performance that week,” Poulter said with a grin as he sat next to Westwood during the Majesticks’ pre-tournament press conference Tuesday going into this week’s LIV Golf United Kingdom Presented by JCB.

The 2007 British Masters wasn’t Poulter’s only runner-up finish at The Belfry, which is located near Birmingham. He tied for second in 2003, three strokes behind Greg Owen. The year before, he was solo second to Justin Rose by one stroke when Rose was his houseguest that week.

“I have to say, when I was cooking him barbeques every night and letting him stay at my house, that was a bit uncalled for,” Poulter said, again cracking wise.

Westwood, for his part, has won on English soil four times among his 44 career pro victories in 20 different countries across five continents (that total doesn’t include his unique seven-day, seven-city made-for-TV tournament win in China). One of the few countries Westwood hasn’t won in is Italy. Poulter has two wins there.

“I’ve been very lucky to win in as many countries as I have but not as many as this great man sitting next to me,” Poulter said.

“You give me one in Italy, and I’ll give you one in England, how’s that?” Westwood said.

“Sounds good. Let’s do it,” Poulter replied.

Exchanges aside, Poulter would dearly love to claim his first English win this week at JCB Golf & Country Club. He’d also love to see his all-English Majesticks team ride the wave of home support to their first-ever team victory in LIV Golf.

The only other time the current lineup of Poulter, Westwood, Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter have competed together in England came in LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 tournament at the Centurion Club outside London. The Majesticks finished third that week, then added two more podium results in the next three events (2nd in Bedminster, 3rd in Boston) after Swedish legend Henrik Stenson joined the team.

The Majesticks have not been back on the podium since, a string of 51 consecutive regular-season tournaments. They’ll enter LIV Golf United Kingdom at the bottom of the team standings; their lone top-10 finish this season is a sixth in Mexico City.

“2022, it feels a while ago now,” Poulter said. “Look, there was a lot of uncertainty that week. Obviously, it was our first week, and we weren’t sure how everyone was going to accept us.

“I think today when we sit here as four Englishmen on this great team, we had a lot of success that week. It was so much fun. We’re trying hard to get back on the podium.”

As among the most recognizable and successful veterans joining a league that would quickly disrupt pro golf’s staid approach, Poulter and Westwood were subjected to some harsh questioning by the British press during their opening press conference.

Joked Westwood on Tuesday: “I’m just happy to be up here not fielding questions on Vladimir Putin and Russia. That’s how it’s changed, right? … There was a lot of trepidation that first event, wasn’t there? When it was kind of balls in the air and we hit our first shots, it was like, right, we’re off now, this thing is real and it’s going to get going.”

“A lot has happened in the last five seasons, and we’ve shaken it up a bit, I’d say. It needed it. Golf needed it.”

As for this week, Poulter needs a win in England. Despite playing with a torn meniscus that will require offseason surgery, he’s been trending nicely, producing his best stretch of the season in his last four LIV Golf starts that includes consecutive top-20 finishes. He also comes off a solo fourth at the U.S. Senior Open, his first senior start since turning 50 in January.

Ideally, he’d like to celebrate both an individual win as well as the Majesticks’ first team victory.

“I’d love to tick that box if I can,” Poulter said. “That would be a huge honor to be able to do that, especially in front of home fans and having all the support that we have. That would be pretty magical.”