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BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 13, 2007

Ian Poulter

LUSS, SCOTLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Even round of 67 today 6-under and fairly strong position halfway to do yourself justice over the weekend.
IAN POULTER: I played very good today, two birdies, one eagle. Birdied two from about 12 feet. Hit a lovely 5-wood into three to about ten feet and rolled that in and hit lob-wedge to two feet on the last. Very steady. I made two good up-and-downs, one on 16, hit it in the left rough, couldn't reach the green and laid it up to a good number. Hit lob-wedge to about four feet. Rolled that in, and then up-and-down from 18. Apart from that, it was pretty flawless.
GORDON SIMPSON: What are the eagle details?
IAN POULTER: 5-wood from 250 yards to ten feet.
GORDON SIMPSON: If you're ever going to run into really hot form, this is the time to do it.
IAN POULTER: Yeah, it's perfect. I always seem to play Loch Lomond really well. I've had some good results around here and looking to continue that.

Q. Can you tell us why the good run of form?
IAN POULTER: Just been playing solid. The swing on camera every time I've been looking at it has been good. The feel is good, I changed the putter, I put a new one in this week and it's just getting the feel back. It's just seeing the ball going in the hole. I've been hit going shot after good shot. Feel that I'm hitting good putts, but none of them have been going in.
So it's frustrating sometimes, and that can get on top of you and then you can try too hard and that get on top of you. I think the odds, sometimes when you go out in the Pro-Am, you don't really line the putt up and you roll it in from 30 feet and goes in the middle and you're sort of scratching your head. I think you can over-complicate this game. I think most of us do that at times. I just tried to have a relaxed approach on the greens, see a line and stick to it and roll the ball at the hole.

Q. So third putter in three weeks?
IAN POULTER: Yeah.

Q. Has playing in America made you a better player and if so, why?
IAN POULTER: Possibly. I think the courses are pretty difficult. I think the pin positions are always tricky over there, and strength and depth over there is probably a little bit stronger than it is in Europe. So therefore, you know, you have to play well all the time. You can't afford to put in an average round of golf because you'll fly down the field the other way.
Yeah, it's probably made me a stronger player and probably more consistent player and I've played pretty consistent over the last year.

Q. Inaudible
IAN POULTER: I didn't pick up a club for eight days last week, didn't touch a club until Monday. A couple of days away with the lads was nice and relaxing. You know, I've comfortable and fresh this week. I feel fresh. It's not as if I've been practising every-trying to find something. I haven't needed to find anything. It just a case of relaxing and doing what I've been doing and getting feel.
It's funny, I didn't feel as if I struck it that good yesterday. For the first five holes, it was a little bit scrappy; from then it was clean. I was hitting good golf shots. I wouldn't say they were all flush, but they were a lot of good golf shots, and there's a lot of good golf shot coming out today.
So if I can just progress, move into the week nice and slowly and be in position comfortable Sunday afternoon, hopefully by then I should be back in shape.

Q. You talk a lot about hitting it pure. Did you hit many pure today?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, I hit some pure shots. I think as a professional, you don't hit -- you don't hit more than ten pure shots in a round of golf. So I certainly didn't pure ten shots today, but I hit lots of good golf shots. You know, I probably hit one or two pure shots yesterday and I probably hit two or three or four today. So if I keep going that way, then I'm feeling happy.

Q. What was one of those pure shots?
IAN POULTER: 5-wood was pure. That was pure, lob-wedge in for the last, ninth hole, has to be hit perfectly which it was. I would have said -- they were all good golf shots, but to class it pure, it's hard.

Q. What happened with Monty in scoring yesterday?
IAN POULTER: Hilarious. It probably happens 30 times a day in the scorer's hut. Monty put the wrong score down for the Spanish lad that he played with, but he put it down as a four when he actually made five, but it was all in the hut so he rubbed it out and changed it to a five.
Of course, I signed my card, I walked out the hut and I put had him down for a three when he had a two. If he signs his car and he puts in that way, the scorecard gets added up as it normally does anyway; Jenny would have picked it up anyway. Monty picked it up as it was, but it just so happens that he had to pop out and grab me in front of you guys and it will be all over the back page of the newspapers.
It's quite funny; he did it to the Spanish lad, and if he had signed his card he would have been disqualified because he had one less than he did. And Monty, because he had one more on the scorecard, he would have been playing today 1-under par instead of 2-under par. It's no big deal. It's just, it happens. It happens in every threeball in the scorer's hut. You mark a score down, you're not really concentrating. It happens. It's nothing malicious. You're paying attention to your game, you wrote down someone else's score down, you make mistakes 20 times a year, but normally it's done within that little scorer's. Hut and that's why the rub is on the side for, you rub it out; you change it, you sign it, you walk off, everyone is happy. Just happened to be I was outside the hut and you guys were there.

Q. Don't they have a walking scorer?
IAN POULTER: I don't know. In America when you have a walking scorer all the time they get it wrong occasionally. They come in, stand behind you, you have your card, your caddie could be next to you, you've got one sheet, you've got another score and you're scratching your head; what do you do. It's just a case of getting it done in the same manner, I suppose.

Q. Inaudible
IAN POULTER: There probably is but to be honest they don't come in the scorer's hut. They come in the scorer's hut and they stand behind you and ask you, "would you like me to read your scores." Sometimes they get it wrong.

Q. Why did you come off your shot on 18?
IAN POULTER: There was a guy on the 18th tee -- when you hit driver, you hit nearly over their head 20 feet in front of you; the guy is about eight feet below you and you hit over the corner. I was set up, literally about to take my shot and there was a guy about to take a picture; so my caddie backed me off and toll him to put his camera away. He had it by his side and I'm standing over my next shot, and because I'm going straight over his head, every time I look up to pick up my line, I'm looking at him with his camera in his hand and I'm distracted, which is frustrating. I hit a poor shot and pulled it left in the water.

Q. What did you do in your week off?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, just driving around in Formula 3 cars in Formula I, messing around on jet skis. It was very dangerous. But it was a lovely way to relax. We are all different. I think we are all adrenaline junkies, so it was lovely to get away and have a couple of days' rest. It's turned out to be nice practise to get away and to refresh -- to refresh the mind and refresh the batteries and come work these next two weeks.

Q. Dangerous at all?
IAN POULTER: Absolutely no danger. There isn't any secret to anybody else --
GORDON SIMPSON: What's the bigger adrenaline rush - driving these cars or winning on Sunday?
IAN POULTER: Winning on Sunday. Fortunately, by winning Sunday, you can go and play with them a lot more often. (Laughter) It's quite fun. We only got six laps in the Formula I car, but it's, you know, it's an amazing field.
GORDON SIMPSON: How fast?
IAN POULTER: Probably pulling 180 down the back straight before the hairpin at the bottom.

Q. Where?
IAN POULTER: Circuit du Var. It's a Tag Heuer track. Not quite long enough to get yourself in too much problems, although one of the lads spun off.

Q. Where is it?
IAN POULTER: It's about 40 minutes from Nice, 45 minutes.

Q. What can you compare that to?
IAN POULTER: 6-foot putt on the last in a major I guess. Still waiting. It's an unbelievable feeling.
GORDON SIMPSON: Well, let's see if it happens on Sunday. Thanks very much, Ian. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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