England’s Ian Poulter strolled to his seventh European Tour win at the XXXII Banco de Madrid Valle Romano Open de Madrid Golf Masters after a wonderful display of golf at La Moraleja II ensured the 32 year old a five stroke victory over Spain’s Ignacio Garrido, with Welshman Philip Price in third spot
Poulter’s performance for four days was simply outstanding. His rounds of 67-66-64 and a final day effort of three under par 69 were too good for his fellow competitors as he captured his first title for almost two years.
The fact that he did not drop a shot until the 67th hole of the tournament tells you everything you need to know about the standard of his golf in Madrid. Every part of his game came together to devastating effect, and when he made the occasional mistake he rectified it with some brilliant recovery shots.
As he said himself, he came to Madrid to do one thing: to win and therefore rejoin the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking, which will be guaranteed when the Rankings are published on Monday morning.
“I came here to do the job and it’s good to come and do it,” he said. “Today was difficult because I had the four shot lead. I just had to keep hitting fairways and greens and roll a few putts in, which I did, and managed to keep myself well in front. I was cruising really.
“I have played as well as this all year. I haven’t done anything different this week apart from roll a few putts in and I have won comfortably. It’s all about getting the ball in the hole and I have done that very nicely this week.”
While Poulter turns his attentions to preparing for the WGC – American Express Championships at the Grove in a fortnight’s time, The European Tour turns its attention to one of golf’s, and indeed world sport’s, most prestigious events: The Ryder Cup.
As Poulter was picking up his first prize of €166,660, which moved him to 14th place on The European Tour Order of Merit, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and José Maria Olazábal were making their way to Ireland where they will join their team mates to prepare to defend the Sam Ryder Trophy at The K Club against the USA.
Harrington finished the week in Madrid in the best position of the three, taking fourth place alongside Sweden’s Christian L Nilsson with a 15 under par 273 total. The Irishman led the putting statistics at La Moraleja II and amassed two eagles and 22 birdies over the four days – a good sign heading into The Ryder Cup’s matchplay format.
Olazábal finished eighth in Madrid after a final round 67, but expressed concern over his form off the tee heading to what will be a stern test of driving ability at the Palmer Course next week. A coaching session with American Butch Harmon awaits.
Clarke, meanwhile, is striking the ball as you would expect one of the world’s purest ball strikers to. He is playing some exceptional shots from tee to green, and is hoping that a change of putting surface will bring a change of fortunes with the flat stick come Friday, when The Ryder Cup is well and truly underway.
