Ian Poulter will begin the WGC-CA Championship in Miami today buoyed by the attention he's received in the last few weeks, after three of golf's all-time greats congratulated the 34-year-old on his victory at last month's Accenture Match Play Championship.
Not so long ago, Poulter was a figure of fun in golf after he claimed to be the only realistic challenger to Tiger Woods' supremacy in the sport - at the time, Poulter had yet to make much of an impression outside of Europe.
But following his success in Arizona last month, where Poulter claimed his first win on American soil, the Englishman has risen to No. 5 in the world. But while that progress will have gladdened the golfer, it's the response from some of golf's legends that has really touched the man.
"Greg Norman gave me a call, Nick Faldo dropped me a line and Arnold Palmer wrote me a letter," revealed Poulter as he prepared to take on the Blue Monster course at Doral this week. "I can't express how much it means. It's just so nice - Greg was just off to Asia and took time out of his schedule to call. And when Arnie sends you a letter to say he was watching and 'congratulations, well played' it can't really get better than that."
"I was asked the question straight after I won what it meant and I couldn't answer it, but when you have people you've admired and followed contacting you and saying the things they said it's great."
Poulter also received a congratulatory text from Colin Montgomerie, captain of this year's European Ryder Cup team. The pair have been involved in some public, and fairly petty spats in the last few years, but whatever rift exists between the two appears to have been healed.
Of course, the way Poulter is playing at the moment he seems likely to qualify for the Ryder Cup team with or without Montgomerie's blessing, but it's good to see the team captain getting along with a player likely to prove important to Europe's chances of winning back the trophy that Nick Faldo's side lost to the Americans in 2008.
Not that the Ryder Cup is Poulter's most pressing concern right now. Success at this week's tournament in Miami could see the golfer rise as high as No. 2 in the world, though he will have plenty of competition - including fellow Englishman Lee Westwood, who currently occupies the No. 4 spot and also has the chance to move up to No. 2 if he can put in a good enough performance at Doral.
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