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In this era of the daft bet there is
some bad news for anyone who has wagered a few pounds
at the 25-1 offered by one British bookmaker that Ian
Poulter will step on to the first tee at the US Open today
wearing a pair of plus fours. It is not going to happen.
"Not this time. It wouldn't be appropriate, I don't
think, not with all the Payne Stewart and Pinehurst stuff
that is around this week," says the Englishman, who
describes himself as a huge fan of the late American golfer
who had a penchant for turning up on the first tee at
golf tournaments dressed like a colour-blind Bobby Jones.
"Payne was the best-dressed man
in golf. Every day he turned up with a different outfit
on. Awesome. I think it was fantastic that there was someone
who was not just a fantastic golfer but also had a bit
of flair when it came to clothes. I would love it if one
day people thought of me like that."
In truth, the 1999 US Open champion's sartorial flamboyance
was founded on a lucrative sponsorship contract with the
National Football League. In Poulter's case he dresses
the way he does simply out of personal choice.
He has packed "a few special things"
for this week but he will not decide on his outfit until
this morning. If he is in a peacockish mood then expect
something incorporating the Stars and Stripes, in which
case he can expect some attention from both the Pinehurst
galleries and the American media.
Indeed, Poulter's impressive career -
one Ryder Cup appearance, six victories on the European
tour - is constantly battling his fashion sense for attention.
Jesper Parnevik suffered similarly when he started playing
more in the United States back in the early 1990s. Even
now the Swede is better known in America for turning up
the brim of his cap than for winning five PGA tour events
and being a member of successful European Ryder Cup teams.
"It doesn't bother me if clothes
are the only thing people want to talk about - I like
wearing funky outfits," Poulter says. "It's
part and parcel of what I am. I like entertaining people.
The point is I'm a great golfer. The general public knows
that, I know that and the press knows that. I've been
on tour for six years and I've won every year. Look back
at the records; there are not many people who have done
that."
He is right, although the very best players
have a better average than one tournament win a year.
Poulter, currently ranked 52nd in the world, played well
in a couple of US tour events this year but to be considered
one of the game's best players he needs to start winning
a few more tournaments or, better still, he needs to win
a really big event. The 2005 US Open would be a good place
to start.
Yet the vast majority of players teeing
off on Pine hurst's No2 course today do so in the full
knowledge they have no chance of winning come Sunday -
a forlorn group which even includes some of the world's
top 50 players. Poulter, though, does not enter the second
major of the year encumbered by such self-doubt, even
though European golfers are on a 35-year losing streak
in the US Open.
In fact the 29-year-old sounds almost
insulted by the idea that either he or one of his Ryder
Cup colleagues will not win. "I'm playing well, I
like the course and the conditions suit me. A lot of my
wins have come in heat like this; Valderrama, Italy, the
Ivory Coast.
"OK, this is the US Open and you've
Tiger, Vijay and the others to contend with it but I have
got a chance. If I don't win, hopefully one of the other
European lads will and we can put this so-called jinx
to bed."
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