As he prepares to play in his seventh Ryder Cup, Ian Poulter discusses his love of the team match play event and why it brings out the best in him, and what Europe’s chances are of retaining the cup they won so convincingly in Paris three years ago
On making the team:
“I spoke to Paddy in March over dinner, and he made it apparent that he wanted me in the team. I’ve put myself on the board a number of times, it was nervy missing the cut at Wentworth but to finally get the call and be told you’re a big part of the team is great to have that level of confidence from your captain. When I think back to 2004, my first Ryder Cup, and now 17 years later and going for my seventh, seems quite incredible.”
On the wildcard pick:
“By waiting on a phone call and being a wildcard pick, it can put you under more pressure and it really focuses the mind to make you justify the pick. I’ve managed to play well under that pressure before and hopefully I can do so again. The US team has six picks, so six of their guys will feel they have to deliver, whereas we only have three guys.”
On the chances for Team Europe:
“I feel good about the European team. Paddy likes the combinations of foursomes and fourballs. We have a mix of players that are young and energetic, and who will be able to maybe play more matches than some of the older guys. It’s nice for some of the younger players to lean on the experience of the older guys. I feel everyone played their way into the team, there aren’t any real surprises. Everyone is doing their bit, I’m excited. Yes, we’re going an extremely stacked American team, but they have had very strong teams in the past.
On playing on away soil and dealing with the US Fans:
“We can’t just rely on looking left or right to get the crowd going from our fans, which is what we’ve done in the past to get us motivated and upbeat. We’ll have to feed off the energy in the crowd. It’s going to be new and it’s going to be different, but we can’t rely on a couple of thousand European fans drowning out the overwhelming number of American fans.
On his preference for playing partners:
“I don’t mind who I play with, I’ve played with so many different players throughout my Ryder Cups. I’ve been the experienced player who has put his arm around a rookie in their first Ryder Cup, and I’ve played with Rory at the other end of the spectrum. I’m the type of player who can play with so many other types of player.”
On what makes the Ryder Cup so special:
“It’s the team, I love being in a team and the team environment. I grew up playing football and enjoy being in the locker room. I love the interaction and having a laugh and a joke and that’s what we get in the Ryder Cup – the atmosphere in the locker room is incredible. It’s the buzz, its’s match play, it’s the Ryder Cup. It gets me pretty pumped.”
On handling the pressure:
“It’s a very different pressure to play under, it does funny things to people. You really have to embrace what happens in your mind, what happens in your body, you have to hit big shots at big times and you don’t need to second guess yourself, the what if game is a difficult game to play in those moments. You need to think about what it is you need to do and get excited to rev up the crowd.”
On Team Europe being the underdogs:
“We’re underdogs on paper and have been so for so many years. Their 12 guys are in the top 21 in the World Rankings, so on paper again they are favourites, they are on home soil and they have 99% of the fans there for the week and they are going to make it hard for us. We have won five of the last six and hopefully we can do another one.”