FOR YEARS, Ian Poulter – a suave kind of guy with his own designs on fashion – has talked the talk; these days, he is walking the walk. The player who once upon a time sold sweets in a club pro shop, and then dispatched begging letters for invites to play on the Challenge Tour in his fledgling career, has evolved into one of the world’s top players and yesterday manufactured a route to contend – again – in a major.

A second successive 68 for 136, eight-under-par, left Poulter at a dizzy height at the midway point in this 74th US Masters at Augusta National and, yet again, let us know that his claim to be world number two – uttered just over two years ago – was not mindless folly. As he reminded us, “if I win this week, I’ll probably go to No. 2, which would be lovely. So, I guess it’s a work in progress.”

Just over two months ago, Poulter – who was Europe’s top points scorer when justifying Nick Faldo’s ‘wild card’ selection in the losing Ryder Cup match against the United States at Valhalla in 2008 – claimed the highlight of his career, outgunning compatriot Paul Casey down the stretch to claim the Accenture Matchplay title.

The next step up for Poulter was to replicate that form in a major. Now, the Englishman’s self-assurance, shot-making and tidy play on the greens has seen him take another step towards that dream. Just another step, mind, because among those hot on his heels were world number one Tiger Woods and, more familiarly, Europe’s number one, Lee Westwood.

Yesterday, on a day when the pins were tucked in tighter positions on greens that were less receptive than in Thursday’s opening round, Poulter enjoyed a round that featured five birdies and was only marred with a closing bogey on the 18th.

Three of those birdies arrived on the Par 5s – the second, eighth and 13th – with the remaining two coming on the Par 3 12th (where he hit an eight iron to 12 feet) and 16th (where he again hit eight iron, this time to ten feet) a testimony to his precision iron game.

Not one to be bashful, Poulter concurred that he was good yesterday.

“I would say it’s one of the best rounds of golf I’ve played in a while,” he replied, before adding a note of caution. “It’s Friday, so I don’t want to get carried away.”

Certainly, Poulter – who each year puts assiduous notes into his little black book noting the gradients and nuances of the greens as part of his preparation – is more at home at Augusta now than ever.

“I think I’ve learnt the golf course over the last six years, and to a degree, (got to) where I feel very comfortable. There’s a lot of shots that I didn’t feel I was very comfortable pulling off six years ago, but certainly I am now. I am more aggressive on the golf course and you have to be aggressive to your targets around this place. You can’t let this course intimidate you too much.”

Poulter, of course, has contended before in majors and two years ago finished runner-up behind Pádraig Harrington in the British Open at Royal Birkdale. This week, there was a reversal of fortunes as Harrington missed the cut after a finishing bogey left him with a second round of 75 to add to his opening effort of 74, for a 36-holes total of 149, five-over.

It meant for an extremely disappointing major for Ireland’s three competitors, with Harrington, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell all missing the cut.

For world number ten Harrington, it was a case of some poor shots knocking his confidence.

“I never had the luxury of making mistakes and a couple of holes got away from me. I hit a couple of errant shots early on yesterday (Thursday) and lost a bit of confidence and was on the back foot after that.

“It just didn’t go for me this week. I wouldn’t say that I was surprised, I played a bit like that last week (in Houston) and lost a bit of confidence in my game,” acknowledged Harrington.

As to his second-place finish at Birkdale, Poulter believed it would stand him well.

“I’ll take a lot of confidence from it. Obviously, the last 18 months I’ve been playing very, very well. I’ve been putting myself in position and it’s all about going out there and enjoying . . . when you’re playing well, this is a great, great golf course.”

For much of the day, Fred Couples, belying his 50-year-old body, stubbornly clung onto the lead he’d carried into the second round. However, a finishing run of three bogeys from the 16th dropped him back and he eventually signed for a 75, leaving him on 141, three under, and just clinging onto a place in the Top-10.

Tiger Woods produced a second round 70 for 138, and he remains an ominous presence and very much in the thick of contention.

Playing in his first tournament for five months, the world’s number one didn’t have an easy time on the greens but still managed to claim birdies on the 13th and 15th coming in which lifted him to within two shots of Poulter. South Korea’s KJ Choi and American Ricky Barnes joined Woods on a total of 138, six under par.