Ian Poulter opens with another round in the 60s

Ian Poulter was already thinking about the strong wind gusts by the time he stepped to the first tee Thursday.

They made for a tough afternoon, but his opening round still left him at 3-under.

With his 69 on Thursday, Poulter strung together his third consecutive round in Augusta in the 60s. He closed the 2015 Masters Tournament with a pair of 67s.

“It was a good day. It was tricky,” he said. “Teeing off 1, and seeing as strong as the wind was, 18 miles an hour, gusting to 25, was always going to be tricky on a number of holes.”

Poulter, who has three top-10 finishes in 11 Masters starts, thought his par save on No. 12 turned his day around.

He made the turn at 2-under but then bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11. He said that on the 12th, while he used an 8-iron, the wind dropped and the shot sailed over the back of the green and into the bunker. He saved par with a 22-foot putt, which he said stopped the bleeding.

“It would have been painful to bogey three in a row,” Poulter said. “That was a nice little turning point there. Then obviously I played the remainder of the back nine pretty solid.”

Poulter reached 3-under on No. 16, keeping him within three shots of leader Jordan Spieth.

Though in a solid position, Poulter didn’t want to think too far ahead. He pointed to his opening 68-68 in 2010 that put him in a tie for first with Lee Westwood after the second round. A disappointing 74 and 73 sent him to a tie for 10th.

“It’s never over around this golf course,” Poulter said. “We’ve seen it from a
lot of players through the years.

“I’m up to the challenge, but obviously it’s Round 1. Things don’t really happen until the back nine Sunday. So between now and then there’s a lot of good golf that needs to be played before you put yourself in position to have a go at anybody.”