Profile / Editor / 18 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

Ian Poulter finished last year in a hurry with a number of impressive displays and the flamboyant Englishman will be eager for lightning to strike twice in 2007.

Cruising to victory at the Madrid Masters by five shots and then finishing joint second at the WGC American Express Championship behind a rampant Tiger Woods, made up for the disappointment of missing out on a Ryder Cup spot and ensured Poulter entered the new year at the top of his game.

But things haven't worked out the way the 31-year-old intended so far this season and he will be keen to put matters right in the second half of the year.

Three top ten finishes - including coming third at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship - in 12 tournaments on the PGA Tour and earnings of $904,000 don't necessarily constitute a failure.

But by his own high standards, Poulter has struggled to build on his impressive end to 2006 and improve on his ranking of 30 in the world standings.

The fanatical Arsenal fan has based himself in America for the large part of 2007, playing only six tournaments on the European Tour.

As a result, he sits a lowly 40th in the Order of Merit but Poulter will be back on familiar territory this week when he lines up at the BMW International. The Woburn-based pro is trading at 19.5 to win his eighth European Tour title, and 3.6 to finish in the top five in Munich.

One of the cleanest strikers of the ball on tour, Poulter had his troubles on the greens last year but putting has not been his problem this year - he lies in 25th in the standings for putts per round in America (28.53).

He is also a fine bunker player and is a force to be reckoned with on the tighter courses in golf, where a good short game is a must if you are to challenge for the major honours.

This has been reflected in Poulter's performances at the Majors in recent years - where he has missed the cut just once in his last eleven appearances (last year's Open Championship).

Despite an average start to the year, Poulter still managed to finish joint 13th at the US Masters and he could be a player to keep an eye out for at the USPGA Championship in August - where he managed his best Grand Slam finish to date in 2006 when coming ninth.