Ian Poulter aims ratings dig at PGA Tour

Ian Poulter has aimed a cheeky social media dig at the PGA Tour over its struggling television ratings.

The Ryder-Cup-legend-turned-Majestick couldn’t resist the opportunity to bring the US-based circuit to heel after seeing one of its players using his nickname.

Poulter, 48, was alerted to a post on X (formerly Twitter) which mentioned J.T. Poston – the first round leader at the RBC Heritage – as the ‘Postman’.

That, of course, is the moniker Poulter has gone by for his ability to ‘always deliver’ on the Ryder Cup stage.

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Now, granted, the PGA Tour didn’t actually call Poston that. His social media handle is @JT_ThePostman and it should be noted that this is hardly a new development. He has been known to fans and fellow players on the tour as the ‘Postman’ for several years.

Still, that didn’t stop Poulter from creating a little mischief at the tour’s expense.

It was fellow European Pablo Larrazabal who alerted the Englishman to a PGA Tour tweet which read: “Chip-in birdie delivered by @JT_ThePostman.”

“There is only one Postman, right?” replied Larrazabal, tagging Poulter in his tweet.

“Yeah it’s alright Pablo,” replied Poulter. “It’s not worth losing energy over. If it helps their ratings then they can borrow it for now.”

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Zing!

The PGA Tour, as regular readers of bunkered.co.uk will know, has been struggling to draw an armchair audience so far in 2024.

Several of its events have been considerably down in viewers year-on-year, with the recent Valspar Championship reported to have lost 27% of its audience this year versus 2023.

The final round of last week’s Masters, meanwhile, drew 9.589 million viewers for CBS – down 20% from 12 months ago when Jon Rahm won the Green Jacket.

It was the lowest final round of The Masters since 2021, when Hideki Matsuyama secured his maiden major.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor