REVEALED! Ian Poulter makes up with PGA Tour for breaking golf rule...

Poulter atones for breaking one of the PGA Tour's golden rules. 

Andy Roberts's picture
Mon, 7 Jan 2019
REVEALED! Ian Poulter makes up with PGA Tour for breaking golf rule...

 

Ian Poulter invited eight tournament guests for a round of golf and a visit to his guest home and car museum to apologise for violating a PGA Tour policy last season.

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According to The Associated Press' Doug Ferguson, the European Ryder Cup star wanted to sure there were no hard feelings with the PGA Tour after he missed the Wyndham Championship - a tournament he was supposed to enter in order to fulfil the Tour's criteria of minimum starts.

The PGA Tour also has a policy that players who don’t compete in 25 events must play a tournament where they haven’t been in the last four years. Life members (20 or more tour victories) and veterans (45 years or older) are exempt - of which Poulter is neither. 

RELATED: SPIETH AND POULTER TO BE PUNISHED BY PGA TOUR

By the time Poulter ended his lengthy winless spell on Tour at the Houston Open at the start of last season, he was suddenly eligible for The Masters, US Open, The Open, shortly before racing up the FedEx Cup standings to play his way into three Playoffs events.

All-but guaranteed a wildcard pick in Thomas Bjorn's 2018 European Ryder Cup team following nine weeks on the road, Poulter decided it would be best to bypass the the Wyndham Championship in order to be fresh for Le Golf National - something that paid dividends for Europe who ran out comfortable 17.5-10.5 victors over the United States. 

Poulter, however, sat down with PGA Tour officials to find a solution to the matter, and he agreed that he would adhere to two new tournaments in Hawaii at the start of 2019, with the Tournament of Champions (where he finished 18th) and Sony Open (which starts this week). 

To ensure no hard feelings though, Poulter went above and beyond his requirements and invited eight tournament guests from the Wyndham Championship to come and join him for the day at his home in Orlando.

“We had a great time,” said Poulter “I played nine holes with each group, we had a bite to eat, and a few of the guys wanted to see the car museum and my Ryder Cup office-homage. I took them through that.”

Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s chief officer of tournaments and competitions, told the AP: "I would say it was beyond what we would consider an acceptable make-good. To do what he did...was just terrific."

Jordan Spieth faced a similar "punishment" from the PGA Tour, but while it was never quite confirmed, it would appear the American atoned for his errors by competing in the Shriners and Mayakoba Classic at the end of last year.