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THE QUINN DIRECT BRITISH MASTERSSeptember 19, 2007Ian PoulterWISHAW, ENGLAND RODDY WILLIAMS: Thanks very much. Appreciate you coming in and joining us today. Back home in England for the first time in a while. How are you feeling? IAN POULTER: Tired. Yeah, it's nice, 45 minutes from the house so I was looking last week, I was very, very tired although excited to play. I was discussing whether I should play at the start of the week as it is five weeks on the bounce but it's a big tournament. I like the golf course. I've played it well in the past and it's a great tournament. So Ryder Cup points, I'm sure I can manage four days on the golf course and try and put in a big performance, and then I have a great week off next week. RODDY WILLIAMS: Getting married on Saturday. IAN POULTER: Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. It's going to be a great day, a long time coming, so I'm really excited. Q. How was your FedEx experience? IAN POULTER: It was a week shorter than probably what I would have liked it to have been. I played well. I played exceptionally well over there, like I have done the last few months. Just a frustrating couple of weeks really with the putter which hopefully we're over that one now and I can roll some putts in on home soil. This should be quite nice. But it was obviously the first -- their first FedExCup over there. I think there will be some changes next year. I think what they are all waiting to see. It was interesting. You'd have to sit back and read some of the reports and see what everybody else thinks about it. Q. What changes would you make? IAN POULTER: I might break it up with a week off between. Next year you've got Firestone, you've got US PGA, you're probably going to have a week off after that, and four weeks, and then you have The Ryder Cup. That's too much golf personally to be going into a tournament like The Ryder Cup and expect to go out and play well. I mean, I've just played four weeks and I'm exhausted. When you sit at the top of the leaderbaord, I haven't been, but I've been finished tenth and ninth and working hard trying to make sure I'm in the fourth one. But to play six out of seven weeks, seven out of eight weeks, it's potentially too much. Q. How much are you thinking about Ryder Cup points? IAN POULTER: Well, when I missed by €18,000, which was close, too close for comfort. Made the next side and then missed by not a lot next time. I want to be playing. Watching it for so many years on this golf course and staying in a tent down the road. I want to be playing. It's the big stage and it's what everybody in Europe wants to play in. So the questions have been coming up over the last week or so, the points are starting. I'm not thinking about it, but I am aware that I'm playing less tournaments -- I'm playing less tournaments than what I did previously in 2004 to make the side. Yeah, I need to make them count. I'm fully aware of what I need to do in the event I play, and that's why I want to play well this week. Q. Will you play more in Europe next year? IAN POULTER: I'm actually going to play -- I'll probably play three more events in Europe next year than what I did this year. I haven't planned my schedule for next year yet, but taking a quick skim and a quick look at some of the weeks, I will play in an extra couple of events and hopefully that will help me. Q. So will you play both tours? IAN POULTER: Split, yes. Q. Is that part of the strategy to get Ryder Cup points? IAN POULTER: I haven't initially set it out to do that specifically but looking at a couple of the tournaments where I could miss a couple which I possibly didn't play as well in in the States, and looking at it quickly down the list, okay, if I didn't play well and I want to play well that week where can I go and play, there's a couple of tournaments I've played well in Europe in the past and it's very easy to go. So, that's fine, I'll play an extra couple of weeks in Europe and make sure I've got the best chance I can to make the side. I mean, I want to be there as much as everybody else. I mean, I will be adjusting very slightly. Q. How confident are you about getting in the team? IAN POULTER: If I play like I've played this year, then certainly I've got a massive chance to be on the side. I've played very solid. I've picked up points pretty much every week I've gone out and played golf, and that's key. I probably didn't do that as much in 2004. I was a little bit up and down, but I managed to play very well in quite a lot of tournaments and missed a few cuts, but I'm not missing cuts like I used to, and I'm picking up points which is a big factor. Q. Has having a home in Florida affected your schedule? IAN POULTER: I don't think it's affected the schedule too much. I bought the place as a base to go and practise in the winter is what I initially bought it for. The fact that I'll play a few more events over there now than what I originally was planning just means I can relax in the weeks off, as opposed to coming back across the pond and getting tired. But you know, I want to keep playing on The European Tour and I want to play enough tournaments on both sides of the pond to give myself the best chance to move up in the World Rankings and to make the sides I need to make. Q. What was not being at the Ryder Cup like? IAN POULTER: Not very nice. Missing by €18,000 was not very nice. And when you look at €18,000 and you look at 3-putting from four feet, say, when you're up there in contention, that's more than €18,000 and that's just one shot or two shots in a whole year. To make the side two years later was exhilarating. It was an unbelievable experience, which I'll never forget and then to miss out the year after and not by a lot again was deeply frustrating. I don't want to go through that again. I want to make sure I'm on the side and enjoy it with everybody else. RODDY WILLIAMS: Good luck this week. Hope you get off to a good start and thank you for your time. End of FastScripts |
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