Ian Poulter defeats Kevin Na at LIV Golf Miami then chirps: "F you, basically!"

Ian Poulter defeated Kevin Na in his singles match on the first day of the LIV Golf team championship in Miami at Trump National Doral.

Ben Smith

28 Oct 2022

Ian Poulter defeats Kevin Na at LIV Golf Miami then chirps: "F you, basically!" — Ian Poulter defeats Kevin Na at LIV Golf Miami then chirps: "F you,…

Ian Poulter appeared in buoyant mood after he defeated Kevin Na in his singles match on day one of the LIV Golf $50m team championship in Miami.

Poulter was involved in a bit of a tense exchange with the American earlier in the week when they traded barbs at the pre-tournament press conference.

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It was the same press conference in which the Englishman appeared baffled at Rory McIlroy's comments about feeling a sense of betrayal from the Ryder Cup Europe stalwarts who have defected over to the breakaway tour.

Poulter eventually saw off 39-year-old Na 4&2 in their match to help the Majesticks GC advance to Saturday's semi-finals.

The teams are competing for a top prize of $16m at Trump National Doral.

This is the payout info:

WIN - $16m

2: $8m

3: $6m

4: $4m

5-8: $3m

9-12: $1m

Poulter said:

"I didn't like it. He drew first blood and he walked it in. So I was like, 'F you', basically. I'm gonna make this really hard for him today.

"I played great, [I had] no bogeys, which on this golf course is always going to be tough. [I] rolled in a few putts as well and it was head down get focused.

"I didn't want to be down in the match, I was down early doors and obviously I turned it around pretty quickly and stayed in front."

The Englishman was asked which team he would like next. He added:

"I don't care [and] the reason I don't care is I'm going to knock them down one by one. It's the only way in match play. It gets me fired up pretty good and I love this format.

"Match play is just so sweet. You're out there, you're on your own, you're focused [and] you're super aggressive to targets.

"Look, we've got strong teams left in this and it's not going to be easy. But that's okay. No match is easy."

WATCH HERE:

Ian Poulter recaps his singles match after defeating Kevin Na 4&2:
"He drew first blood, and he walked it in. So I was like F you, basically, I'm going to make this really hard for him today."
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— LIV Golf Updates (@LIVGolfUpdates) October 28, 2022