US OPEN:THE POSTURING here takes many forms. It comes from the seals on the rocks, and from the surfers riding the waves below the cliffs. It happens on the course too.
And, if many players approached yesterday’s first round of the US Open in a tentative way, possibly giving the grand old links too much respect, Ian Poulter – the snappiest clotheshorse in golf – was one of those to lay down a marker of intent.
Poulter is primarily a golfer, even if he dabbles in clothes design, for women as well as men, and has a penchant for twittering from the locker-room, the car and, in practice, from the course. On Wednesday, indeed, he could be seen taking photos of the seals behind the 18th tee.
Yet this Englishman has serious designs on winning a major to add to the WGC-Accenture Matchplay he claimed earlier this season.
Yesterday, Poulter got that quest under way with an opening 70, one under par, which left him in a four-way tie of the first wave of starters alongside Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello, South Korean’s KJ Choi and Canadian Mike Weir, a former US Masters champion.
Their scores were posted as the second wave of players, among them Tiger Woods, were only getting started.
By then, just as Poulter and Co had signalled their intentions, others had played their way into a fight to survive the cut let alone possess realistic claims for the title. Phil Mickelson was one of those who suffered, posting a 75 that included carving two balls into the Pacific Ocean.
Geoff Ogilvy, the champion in 2006, posted a 79, while Camilo Villegas signed for a 78 and Henrik Stenson for a 77.
Pádraig Harrington, who manufactured a 73 with two birdies in his closing four holes, expressed a degree of satisfaction with his salvage operation.
“I started off nicely and was well in control, had some good birdie chances and, then, the game went away from me in the middle of the round. I was going in the wrong direction. And, I’ll be honest, I was shocked when I finished and saw that I was only three behind (the clubhouse leaders).”
He added: “In the middle of the round, I wasn’t playing well. I started seeing all the trouble. I was trying too hard at that stage. I relaxed a bit. It doesn’t always work that way, but I got the rewards and the birdies came.”
The Dubliner finished in some style, hitting a huge drive of 355 yards on the ninth and then hitting a wedge in to 12 feet for a birdie.
All in all, it was a tough day at the office for many. Yet, with reasonably accessible pin placements, there were ways to score. Poulter, part of an exceptionally strong English challenge, which was also augmented by the in-form Luke Donald, had four birdies and three bogeys in his round.
“I think it’s the fact of loving the golf course. It’s my first time here and I love it. It’s about positional play. I like small greens and it being tricky around the greens, so my short game can come into play. I’ve worked hard this week, and that was a good reward today.”
Poulter’s short game was demonstrated on the 18th, where he made a good par save. “You need to make an up and down at the right time. You have to stay patient, or you will be going home pretty quickly. If you get a little bit impatient and take on a shot you shouldn’t, you can make a triple bogey very quickly. I’m not interested in a winning score, just in playing golf. It’s irrelevant to me what score wins as long as I finish one shot better than anybody else,” he observed.
A similar philosophy was adopted by Donald, who finished second in the European PGA and won the Madrid Masters inside the past month. Typically, there was nothing flashy about Donald’s game as he strived to find fairways and hit greens in regulation.
“Majors always demand full concentration. It’s easy to lapse, so you have to focus pretty hard. You have to think through every shot. It’s a solid start, something to build on,” said Donald, who opened with a level par 71.
Weir, the only player among those on the leaderboard of the early starters who knows how to win a major, was content. The Canadian included a chip-in birdie on the 16th en route to his 70. What did he enjoy most?
“The grind, more than anything. I enjoy that challenge and I think more than anything that’s why I’ve probably done so well in the US Opens because I know it is tough.”
Graeme McDowell, who won the Wales Open earlier this month, continued his good run by reaching one-under on his round through seven holes.
Tiger Woods was level through two holes, as was Rory McIlroy.
