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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 14, 2009

Ian Poulter

CHASKA, MINNESOTA

Q. How do you feel?
IAN POULTER: A little bit disappointed to let it slip on the first hole, double-bogey from probably 15 feet from the hole. You know, tried to play a perfect chip shot, didn't come off, chipped it past, made a hash of it, really, and it was good to get back into it. But making five birdies, none of which come on the par 5s, was a little frustrating.

Q. How difficult do you expect the golf course to play in afternoon?
IAN POULTER: Last hour it got very interesting. That wind has definitely picked up ten- or 15-mile-an-hour. So it will be some good viewing from my armchair this afternoon.

Q. Last week when we spoke, although you shot some decent scores you said you didn't feel comfortable yet you seem to be playing well; have you found something?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, it's back on the right line away from the ball, which is key to setting the whole rhythm of my golf swing up. If it gets a little away from me on the way back, it's hard to drop it back on the right line on the way inside. It's definitely on the right line now and it feels a lot better.

Q. You love this sort of championship playing in front of big crowds, what's the buzz like out there?
IAN POULTER: It's great. The crowds are fantastic out there. This is as busy a major as I've seen all year, so it's good fun.
It was a good day. A shame to bogey 17, a hole that caught me yesterday. You know, going down the first, I hit a great second shot, or what I thought was a good second shot, it's missed the green by a yard right, 15 feet from the hole, left me a tricky chip shot with a horrible lie. I made double-bogey, so a little bit of a mental error on the par chip, hit it too hard.
You know, good to battle back from there to get it back under par. It's just a shame I didn't take advantage of the par 5s today, five birdies on the par 5s.

Q. You should be feeling much better in terms of --
IAN POULTER: Should be. I mean, it feels that way. I mean, I've played great. I certainly left a few putts out there yesterday, putts from six, eight, ten feet, which I felt as if I hit good putts. But in the afternoon, they get a little bit bumpy, poa annua sort of grows at different speeds and they don't run quite as true as what they do first thing in the morning. So it was nice to get back out there this morning and hit a few putts in the hole.
The wind has picked up 15-mile-an-hour from first thing this morning, so if it stays that way all day, I mean, it's going to be brutal this afternoon. The greens will dry out. I felt the course played pretty -- I'm not going to say easy because it's never easy but it was definitely easier this morning. The greens were softer and you could get at some of those pins, and if they firm up, there's a couple of pins tucked two or three over the ridge, and if they get a little firm, it's going to be hard to get it close.

Q. If the wind does get up this afternoon, are you happy to be where you are now?
IAN POULTER: Very happy to be going back home sitting and watching it from my armchair, yeah. I'll be very happy.

Q. What's the difference between this tournament and the Open then, just the way you feel?
IAN POULTER: How about a little bit of rest? I've had a week off.

Q. Is that all it's been?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, seriously. I had two weeks off. I had a whole week to relax at home before picking a club back up to start hitting balls before last week, and I felt as if my game wasn't quite there at the start of last week. But then obviously sort of picked up a bit towards the end of the week and it's definitely got better through this week, so it's just about being fresh and ready to play golf.

Q. Your strategy on the par 5s?
IAN POULTER: Try and hit your tee shot as hard as you physically can to get it as far down there as you possibly can.
I just think that there's a couple of par 5s out there which they may be in range for probably five players, and you can name exactly who they were. They figured yesterday on the leaderboard. Quiros, longest hitter out there, got up there on probably most of the 5s. Tiger can get home.
A few of the big boys, if they do hit a good drive, they can pitch it at 310 and that's an advantage, because on a couple of those fairways, you can actually get an extra kick and get another 20, 30 yards. So you have a big gap between an average hitter and a long hitter, which is a shame really, but it is what it is.

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