Ian Poulter is on the verge of picking the ideal time to produce a first career strokeplay victory in the United States. With 18 holes of the Houston Open remaining, Poulter could also supply a Masters fairytale a matter of days before the first major of the year even begins.
The Englishman’s third round of 65 in Texas means a share of the lead, at 14 under par with the American Beau Hossler, heading into the final day.
The bigger picture is impossible to ignore here – a win would earn Poulter the 87th and final spot in the Masters field. Two more factors would add to this incredible scenario, should the 42-year-old prevail: he was 124th in Houston after an opening round of 73 and quite rightly upset last weekend when wrongly informed he had reached Augusta National by virtue of a quarter-final berth at the WGC Match Play. Now, don’t mention the “M” word.
“I’m in a no-lose situation,” Poulter said. “I haven’t won a strokeplay event on the PGA Tour and I’m in a position where I’ve got an opportunity to. So people will back against me, that’s fine, I’ll go and do my job.
“I’m not thinking about it [the Masters], not talking about it. I’m going to go out and have some fun tomorrow. There’s a lot of ifs and buts.
“I’m in a funny position, right? I didn’t have any expectations, I just went out to play golf. I’m going to do exactly the same tomorrow. There’s a good group of players right now that are currently just behind that are going to be pressing, so I need to press as well. I need to be aggressive.”
Henrik Stenson’s 69, his third sub-70 round in as many days, left him at 11 under par. Justin Rose made a 72, meaning he requires something special to achieve victory from a starting position of minus seven. Phil Mickelson did well to produce an identical Saturday tally to Rose, given the appearance of a triple bogey and double bogey on his scorecard.
“I’ve been driving the ball very well this year,” said Mickelson, who will be in pursuit of a fourth Green Jacket from Thursday. “I have not driven it well this week. I’ve been putting very well all year and I’m putting well this week and the one thing I need to be sharp next week is putting.”
