'Swingapore' sensation!

What's in Poulter's winning bag

03 Nov 2009

Ian Poulter drove the Cobra ZL superbly all week

Ian Poulter's stunning wire-to-wire victory in the Barclays Singapore Open featured his use of the new Cobra ZL driver for the first time in tournament play. Ironically, it came almost exactly a year after he was forced to withdraw from the tournament following the theft of his previous driver.

Cobra ZL driver

He held off an impressive international field to close with a one over par 72 and 10-under par total which sent him soaring nine places up the world rankings to No.15.

As well as the 9.5 degree Cobra ZL (Zero Limits) driver with a Fujikura 6.0 Motore Speeder shaft, Poulter used Cobra Pro CB/MB irons and the latest Rife Antigua putter with its horizontal grooves.

The ZL driver, says Cobra, pushes the boundaries of forgiveness and distance with its multi-material construction, a milled rhombus face insert and an Aldila VooDoo as the standard shaft for amateur golfers. Shipping started this week, with a recommended price of £299.

The driver also features Adjustable Flight Technology with three alternative settings (Poulter's was neutral as opposed to closed or open) to optimise consistent ball flight and distance. Geoff Ogilvy and long-drive specialist JB Holmes also have the ZL driver in their bags.

Poulter revealed that he only had a couple of practice sessions trying out the driver before heading off to Asia but decided to put in the bag. It proved to be an inspired choice.

“It arrived last Wednesday and I left on Saturday. So I had literally two days to try it. I liked it so much I put it in the bag and now here we are with a win,” said the former Leighton Buzzard golf club assistant pro.

Rife Antigua putter with horizontal grooves

Poulter, who averaged 284.5 yards off the tee (23rd best in the field), also
handed Rife Putters their third victory of the season on the European, thanks chiefly to 30-footer for birdie on the 13th hole of the final round which all but sealed victory. Indeed he was second in putting with 29.2 per round.

Since switching to the Guerin rife-designed Antigua model earlier at PGA Tour's The Zurich Classic, Poulter finished runner-up at The Players Championship and has has made over $3 million in earnings including the $866,337 he won in Singapore.

The secret to the company’s success, with already 17 Tour wins this year, is the RollGroove face and LieAline Custom Fitting System.

FOOTNOTE: Poulter, who opted for his own customised FJ ICON design via the unique MyJoys franchise, strode to victory in true Poulter style with a brown and pink combination. Poulter also relied upon the tried and tested FJ SciFlex™ glove.