Ian Poulter Fighting to Remain on PGA TOUR

Quite a few former PGA stars have fallen from their greatness in the last year.  While many have been able to make a comeback and return to form, some players are still fighting to return to their previous glory.

Ian Poulter is one such player that is attempting to recapture his success and he needs to do so quickly as he is currently in jeopardy of losing his PGA TOUR card.  Formerly a top five ranked player in the world, Poulter has fallen on tough times and now ranks at 206th in the World Golf Rankings.

Last year, Poulter came out of gates looking erratic and uncomfortable with his play.  It was later revealed that Poulter was being nagged by a foot injury and ended his season in May in order to recover.  This forced Poulter to miss the Ryder Cup for the first time in a decade.

In his return in the fall of last year, Poulter was able to play in ten events, four of them on the PGA TOUR.  While he still did not look good in his return, playing in those events on a medical extension allowed him to keep his tour card.  But now, Poulter has to either score 154 FedEx Cup points or earn $220,301 in his next six tournaments in order to keep his card.  That’s about the equivalent to a fifth place finish.

Despite all of the hardships he has faced, Poulter is just trying to focus on the task at hand.  He said, “I’m looking at it like I would like to be in a position with the six events I’m going to play to earn enough money, which secures everything.  Back in the top 50.  Back in a position to be in The Open Championship.  Back in a position to enjoy the back half of the year.”

Poulter is off to a good start at the Honda Classic after ending his first round only two shots off of the lead and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to meet the necessary requirements to continue playing on the PGA TOUR this year.

Cover Image via Twitter