Poulter: Eurpoer must stick with what we know

Like it or not, Ryder Cup fall out continues with Ian Poulter joining Rory McIlroy in endorsing Darren Clarke for the European captaincy in 2016.

Poulter enjoys being on sports radio and TV in America, and the flamboyant Englishman arrived at the Golf Channel Studios last week in one of his six Ferraris.

But the five-time Ryder Cup team member stressed the importance of continuing with the old saying: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

“Paul McGinley said that himself at the beginning of the Gleneagles week, so we did not see him come in and change things around from what had been done in the past,” Poulter revealed

“It was a record win in the Friday afternoon foursomes, so we knew as a team we were very strong. From start to finish, Paul was flawless as he went to toe-to-toe with Tom Watson.

“His playing career was not the same as Tom’s. He alluded to that early in the week. He said I’m not going to tell you what to do because you know your job and you know what you have to do.

“I’m just going to try to give you all the information and stuff that will allow you to go out on the golf course and do your job.

“He never wavered from that line.

“The amount of homework he did was really impressive. He had this little leather binder, and he referred to that a number of times. He had everything thought through, every ‘what if’ scenario and the answer to it.

The harmonious vibes in the European locker-room were in sharp contrast to what was going on in the American one, and Poulter showed great sympathy for Tom Watson’s predicament.

“There was always going to be a post mortem in the loser’s room regardless of whether it was Europe or America,” he points out. “Obviously, Phil felt pretty strongly, and whilst some things need to be kept behind closed doors, we sussed there was an issue on Saturday when Phil and Keegan were left out because it was unusual for them to not be playing.

“What the problem was I don’t know, but it is hard to hang Tom Watson out to dry immediately in the aftermath because he is a legend in the game of golf. But it should have been left behind closed doors.”

The moan from some Americans was that Watson belonged to another generation, and therefore he was not on the same page as his younger team.

A glance at Sir Alex Ferguson heading into the home side locker-room to administer a team talk might have given them a dose of reality, Poulter implies.

“Hey, having Manchester United’s greatest manager out front telling you what to do even I, as a fervent Arsenal supporter, can get over that!

“But, seriously, anyone who has been that successful in a managerial position, what an inspiration.”

So continue with the blueprint, is Poulter’s message, and how he would love to use it locking heads with Tiger as captains in around 10 years’ time!