Super confident Ian Poulter vows to take down Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood in China
An over-confident and boisterous Ian Poulter claimed that he will be the outright winner of the upcoming seven-city Shui On Land China Golf Challenge, which is set to begin next week. The Englishman will be teeing off on one of the seven courses in one of
the seven cities where the tournament will be played. He revealed that he is in the right form to overtook the likes of Rory McIlroy and World Number Two ranked player, Lee Westwood.
While speaking to the media, Poulter said, “Who's going to win? I am of course, Sorry, Lee. Sorry, Liang. Sorry, Rory.”
A member of last year’s Ryder Cup team, Poulter has played well in the current season and he thrives in competitive golf especially on Asian turf. Currently ranked at Number 23
on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), he has surged as high as Number Five in the world and is eager to post another victory before the season comes to an end. He won the Volvo World Match Play Championship in May, where he took the better off World
Number One, Luke Donald.
Poulter added, “It's going to be very exciting and there should be a huge turnout for this event. I'm expecting big crowds at every course we play on. It's going to be impressive.”
The tournament is essentially a promotional campaign of the sport in China, where all the seven courses are designed by different designers. Players will be on a whirlwind tour of the seven cities on the schedule, hopping from one jet to another in between
the rounds.
Two of the said courses on the schedule are in Beijing, where the event will kick-off on October 12. Rest of the rounds will be played at Shanghai (October 10), Zhengzhou (October 11), Dalian (October 13), Chongqing (October 14), Dongguan (October 15) and
Macau (October 16).
It might be easier for Poulter to brag about himself and ‘talk the talk’ before the event, but it would be definitely another thing to walk the walk. He will be a facing stiff challenge from his countryman, Westwood, who has a knack for playing good golf
on Asian Turf. He won two Asian Tour titles earlier in the year and has the ability to manoeuvre his shots around Asian courses like none other from the west.
McIlroy, on the other hand, has done well following his engagements in different events after his win at the Congressional in June. He posted a joint third at the Omega European Masters and runner-up finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week.
Liang Wen-chong, China’s number one player will have a home advantage on the courses and will ensure that he fully capitalises on the edge. Liang’s best finish in a major came last year at the PGA Championship, where he finished for a joint eighth. The event
is sure to be an interesting one, as the Chinese golfer has all capabilities to lift the title next week.
Tags: