Ian Poulter grabs lead in the opening round of JBWere Australian Masters as Luke Donald falls behind
World number 28, Ian Poulter has now surged to the top in the opening round of the JBWere Australian Masters, pulling in a significant six-under, 65 in the 18-hole stretch. Dressed all purple in his favourite lilac Tartan check trousers and a lilac sweater,
the Englishman has now gained a one shot advantage over the local favourite Ashley Hall meandering his way through the scenic Victoria Golf Club.
Peter Lonard, Jarrod Lyle and Matthew Giles have also done well to remain in contention with their four-under, 67, poised for a joint third while another group of two players Rod Pampling and Richard Green are further down the leaderboard, trailing Poulter
by three shots. World number one Luke Donald had a disappointing day when he finished four shots behind the leader.
Poulter, who is the second highest ranked player in the event, is probably working to improve his rankings before the end of the current season and the Australian Masters provides the ideal conditions to do the same.
“I’m fully aware this is my last tournament of the year so I need to play well,” he said. “That is how most guys get paid nowadays, namely where they finish on the world ranking. For guys that play a global schedule then the only way to get paid is obviously
on your average on your world rankings.”
Winner of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain where he overtook Donald in the final round has remained in contention in many of the proceeding events throughout the year. Poulter is more concerned with his contractual agreements which are worth
several times more than the winner’s prize share this week and needs to retain a minimum threshold to stay with his lucrative sponsorship deals.
Donald, otherwise known for his excellent short game, was not impressed with the day’s proceedings.
“I hit it quite well on the back nine but (on) my front nine just made no putts,” said Donald. “Two birdies, no bogies could have been a lot worse, could have been a little bit better.”
Donald is tied with Australian Greg Chalmers, winner of the Australian Open and Australian PGA titles last month.
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