WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 25, 2021

Ian Poulter

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you assess your win today?

IAN POULTER: That one was close. You know, and it was -- I saw yesterday Cam 2-down with two to play, halved his match yesterday, and obviously he's had a nice birdie at 16, great birdie at 17, and obviously he's put me under pressure there on the last. It was really nice to roll that putt in at the last and obviously get that done because that would have been quite frustrating to have given half a point away there, being 3-up with three to play.

Q. You seemed to make everything. Putter was hot today?

IAN POULTER: I wouldn't say I holed everything. I mean, I had a lovely opportunity there at 17, which I missed. I had a nice obviously chance at 14, holed a nice putt on 13. I mean, I holed a couple of key putts at the right time, but no more timely than obviously the one at the last.

Q. Do you think you're a better putter in match play than stroke play?

IAN POULTER: Yes.

Q. Why?

IAN POULTER: Because I really -- I just really hate losing. It's so simple. There's only one guy on the golf course that has the opportunity to beat you, and you're not in control in a stroke-play event. You know, I guess it's just really simple. Just hole your putts and take care of business, and you can be a real pain in the backside. I love this format. It's really simple. I love the opportunity to hole bunker shots when your opponent thinks you're out of the hole. Cam did it to me on 7 today. It was absolutely perfect match play golf right there. I've stiffed it with a 4-iron, he's missed the green to the right, and I almost said to James at that point, watch this, this has got a 50/50 chance of going in, and obviously he holed his chip shot. It's just great. We don't get this enough. We don't get the feelings enough when we play golf, and it gets the adrenaline going really quickly.

Q. Not that you're old --

IAN POULTER: Oh, I'm old.

Q. But this point in your career --

IAN POULTER: I'm closer to 50 than I am 40, so I am old.

Q. Do you appreciate match play more now than you did when you were younger or enjoy it more?

IAN POULTER: I mean, I never really played it as a junior. I never really played it until I turned pro. I didn't really have the opportunity to play match play really until I got into the Accenture Match Play way back early 2000s, so I didn't really have a lot of experience in match play. A tiny bit at home as an assistant pro, but that's winter tees and all that good stuff.

So no, I mean, I've got no real experience in it. It's just like when you go out and play your brother and you really don't want your brother to beat you. It brings all those memories back. I hated it. I hated it when he beat me occasionally, and it happened a bit, and I didn't like it.

Q. Do you relish the fact that it's in your hands tomorrow, in your match?

IAN POULTER: Yeah. Yeah. Obviously I could see the group in front. It got really slow on that back nine. It was pretty stacked up so I could see obviously Rory was taking care of his match. So yeah, I'm in control of the group from that aspect if I win my match or get anything out of my match. Then I'll obviously move forward.

Still a lot to play for. You never know. Match play is just so wonderful, right. It's never over until it's actually over, and we've got another of the same scenario tomorrow.