Ian Poulter responded to his first tee boos at the Open Championship by sinking an astonishing 160-foot putt for eagle on the par fourth ninth at St Andrews. Despite the impressive eagle, Poulter’s start was not all plain sailing.
As he made his way onto the opening hole, a number of boos could be heard as his name was read out in front of the Scottish crowd watching on on the first tee. Things then got worse for Poulter, as he hit a wild hook left, teasing with the out of bounds area of the opening hole.
Despite his opening nightmare moment, Poulter responded incredibly well and no doubt had the crowd back on side following a piece of magic on the ninth.
After driving the green on the final hole of the front nine, the Englishman left himself a mammoth 160-foot putt for an unlikely eagle ahead of the turn. Remarkably though, the 46-year-old saw his putt roll across the ninth green before dropping into the hole, bringing one of the biggest crowd roars of the opening round so far.
Looking as astonished as anyone, Poulter stared in disbelief as the crowd celebrated before comically raising his hand to his cap, and staring at the flag in the distance. The eagle two saw the Englishman move to three-under for the tournament, in a quick start for the world No 104.
The initial boos for Poulter were no doubt down to the Ryder Cup star’s recent move to the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series last month. Poulter joined fellow European stalwarts Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, and PGA Tour stars Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka in making the Saudi switch.
The breakaway circuit has split opinion across the world of golf, with a civil war breaking out between the sport’s elite. Last week, Poulter made a controversial return to European golf, after winning a legal battle against the DP World Tour to play in the Scottish Open after initially being banned for his LIV Golf defection.
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Prior to his first round boos at St Andrews, Poulter revealed to Mirror Sport that the support he had received by the Scottish faithful over the past week had been ‘incredible’. He said: “[The support] has been incredible. I think I wore my wrist out signing for all of them last week but it has been great.
“I have always had a really nice following up here [in Scotland]. I have always donned the tartan trousers which they love… It is only Monday [at The Open] and it has already been amazing.” Despite the boos, Poulter has no doubt had a productive first day out on the Old Course, after kicking his tournament off with an impressive three-under-par 69.
