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Poulter spurred on by home support
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Poulter spurred on by home support

Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter admitted the spirit of Medinah propelled him to within touching distance of winning The 142nd Open Championship.

Ian Poulter

The Englishman, Europe's catalyst for that famous win on American soil last year, appeared to have little chance when he began the day eight shots off the lead.

When he bogeyed the third he was even further back, but a brilliant run of eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie from the ninth as he began sinking putts thrust him into contention.

The 37 year old was definitely on a roll but his momentum came to a shuddering halt when he missed the green at the 16th and failed to get up and down.

"They were going in the middle like they were in Medinah," said Poulter, who finished joint third four shots behind winner Phil Mickelson, in reference to his Ryder Cup performance.

"The excitement, the atmosphere, the fans out there were certainly giving me a lot of electricity and pumping me up.

"It's nice to be in that position when you're playing in front of a home crowd holing 15 foot putts for eagles, birdies, and running up that leaderboard."

Poulter changed his putter for the tournament and it was a move which paid off.

"Today was the day where I felt the putter started to work," he added.

"Certainly the last few events I felt like I haven't had that kind of roll where I've rolled key putts in at the right time.

"I've worked very hard in the last two weeks to find a putter that I felt very comfortable with."

With the lead changing hands between Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood, the overnight leader, Adam Scott and World Number One Tiger Woods, Poulter sensed he had a chance of sneaking through.

"On 12 as I rolled that putt in to get myself back to level par I was right there in the mix," he said.

"I think Westie (Westwood) had made bogey at that stage and was at two under par.

"I realised then that they've got a lot of tricky holes to play to get to the position that I obviously was in at the time through 12 holes.

"I hit a fantastic shot into 13 to about 12 feet and missed that putt there, but I'm a leaderboard watcher and I always like to see what's going on.

"Obviously I realise in this situation when you can get out in front, post a number, sometimes it's a good position to be in.

"I just felt that if I could stay patient, take a few chances, don't make silly mistakes then I could definitely move up that board.

"I was eight back, realistically, do you really think you've got a chance to run straight through and nick it?

"Going to bed last night, probably not, but you just realise that Paul Lawrie came from ten back (in 1999).

"There was a six shot swing in four holes last year. This tournament does it year in, year out, and it creates a lot of drama.

"You've just got to find yourself in position around the back nine and see if it's good enough."


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