Ian Poulter has been a part of four Ryder Cup teams and won 80 percent of his matches. Almost single-handedly, he inspired the 2012 comeback now known as the Miracle at Medinah. He birdied the final five holes of his Saturday fourballs match with Rory McIlroy to beat a shocked Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson. He then came through on Sunday with a singles win against Webb Simpson, leading the record charge to overcome a four-point Saturday night deficit.
However, Poulter has been off in 2014, posting just a single top-10 PGA Tour finish in the calendar year. He didn’t qualify for the team on points, leaving European captain Paul McGinley no choice but to select Poulter as a courtesy to his previous record.
Fellow 2014 captain’s pick Lee Westwood made clear a European victory at Gleneagles will have to be more of a team effort.
“I think it’s a lot to ask of him to do the same as he did last time,” Westwood said at the Wales Open on Saturday. “He turned the whole momentum of the Ryder Cup around on that Saturday night so let’s not put too much pressure on him with that, but certainly he seems to be able to raise his game for a Ryder Cup.”
The last two Ryder Cup matches have gone in Europe’s favor by a single point, with Poulter leading the way (along with Luke Donald in 2010) in European points in both matches. However much Westwood would like to lessen the load on Poulter, it’s clear he has been integral to their last two wins.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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