• Ryder Cup

Poulter loves American life ... and sticking it to Uncle Sam

Two of his four children were born in the United States, he lives in a Florida mansion and plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour.

Ian Poulter enjoys life in America but absolutely loves sticking it to Uncle Sam at the Ryder Cup.

Rory McIlroy might be the No.1-ranked player in the world but Poulter is likely the No.1 target for the Americans, who have become quite accustomed to the Englishman celebrating at their expense.

And Poulter admits nothing motivates him quite like the Ryder Cup, which begins at Gleneagles on Friday.

Forget mind games

Ian Poulter lives in Florida © Getty Images

• Ian Poulter laughed off Phil Mickelson's jibe about the Rory McIlroy-Graeme McDowell legal fight and dismissed the idea that there was animosity between two of Europe's key Ryder Cup players. He also took it as a compliment that US captain Tom Watson had said they would target him.
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"Just the pride of what it means to put the shirt on, to walk over the bridge and through the tunnel and soak up the electricity that you get from the crowd is something which is the biggest adrenaline rush you could ever possibly have," Poulter said on the eve of the 40th playing of the matches. "It only happens every two years. It's been a long time to wait between those weeks. It's something that keeps you going.

"You want to play more and more of them because they are very fulfilling and you don't get that experience in any other form of golf."

Poulter, 38, is the modern-day version of Seve Ballesteros, a passionate performer who saves some of his best golf for the Ryder Cup. Poulter has played in four Ryder Cups and has a 12-3 record, including 4-0 two years ago at Medinah.

He helped start the European comeback by birdieing the last five holes of his Saturday afternoon four-ball match. Often forgotten is that McIlroy was his partner in the one-up victory over Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner.

A day later, he defeated Webb Simpson two-up in singles.

"He's got the amazing ability to shut everything out," said fellow Englishman - and Florida neighbour - Justin Rose. "His eyes, when you watch his eyes when he's in the zone, his eyes are not really taking everything in. They're very focused on the putt.

"You can just see the eyes running up and down the lie. He gets very sort of channelled into the job at hand and that is the only way to play under pressure."

Yet Poulter comes into the Ryder Cup not in top form. He hasn't posted a top-10 finish since the week before the US Open and missed the cut in three of his last six starts.

Ranked 38th in the world, Poulter has not won in nearly two years - since just after the 2012 Ryder Cup.

"Quite clearly my record in the Ryder Cup is exceptional, and my stroke play record isn't," said Poulter, who has 12 European Tour titles, but just two on the PGA Tour. "Quite clearly I've struggled to take what I have in the Ryder Cup and put that out for 103 other weeks in between them. So I've thought about it.

"It's hard, but to realize that that's what every putt means in the Ryder Cup is equivalent, and the emotion that goes through your body is the same as the putt that you experience on a Sunday in a big tournament.

"Potentially you're holing lots of winning tournament putts through a three-day spell and sometimes that all adds up to more wins than what you would ever win in your professional lifetime.

"That's why players enjoy the Ryder Cup so much and that's why it's mentally and physically draining by the end of the week because you go through that emotion and you don't get that in your week-in, week-out playing record."

Poulter hasn't played since the Deutsche Bank Championship last month and said he used the time to recharge and work on his game. The sense is that it is not where he wants it to be, but that there are signs it is coming around.

That's not exactly good news for the Americans, although by now they should expect nothing less than Poulter's best.

"Right now, we've got a lot of players to look at," said US captain Tom Watson. "But Ian, with his record, he's an 80% victor over the series of matches he's playing in. We'd like to reduce that."

This article originally appeared on ESPN.com

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