Ian Poulter was not happy one little bit with the PGA Tour after he played a tournament at Bethpage Black way back in 2012.
Poulter parted ways with the PGA Tour in 2022 to link up with LIV Golf, and he has really struggled with his game since then.
Not even being close to making the European Ryder Cup team for the clash with the United States at Bethpage Black will still be eating away at the 49-year-old Englishman.
His fellow LIV golfers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will be on Luke Donald’s team next month, but the three-time PGA Tour winner never really stood a chance of joining them.
Poulter has admitted he struggled with injuries all season on LIV, so he was never able to perform to his very best.
Throughout his career, he has been a real grinder and always thrived on punching above his weight and proving people wrong.
However, one tournament back in 2012 was simply too much for him.
Why Ian Poulter once claimed Bethpage Black had been ‘ruined’
During the FedEx Cup Playoffs 13 years ago, the PGA Tour headed to Bethpage Black for The Barclays.
Nick Watney won the event, finishing up on 10-under par. Meanwhile, Poulter finished down in a tie for 36th on even-par.
Poulter’s third round 76 saw him blow his chances of victory at Bethpage and he wasn’t happy one little bit with the course setup.
The Englishman ripped into the PGA Tour for ‘ruining’ the golf course on day three of The Barclays in 2012, as quoted by CBS Sports.
He said: “The worst course setup I have ever played in 13 years on tour. They have ruined what is a great course, greens like concrete stupid pins.“
Sour grapes from Ian Poulter and PGA Tour stats from The Barclays prove it
Some would say that was a case of sour grapes from Poulter, and maybe it was.
After all, Kevin Stadler fired a round of six-under par 65 on day three at Bethpage. Meanwhile there were four rounds of 67 carded and a plethora of 68s.
The average score at Bethpage at The Barclays during round three in 2012 was 72.6 – 1.6-over par. So perhaps the course wasn’t playing quite as hard as Poulter made out.
In fairness to the Englishman, he doesn’t have a history of blaming anything or anyone other than himself when he plays poorly.
So we can chalk this one up as a bad day at the office for Poulter.
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