Ian Poulter plotting surprise return to The Open

Ian Poulter has not played in a major since the 150th edition of The Open at St Andrews three years ago.

At Royal Portrush, however, he’ll be hoping to tee it up in golf’s oldest major for the 21st time.

The Ryder Cup legend has exited the major stage ever since joining the breakaway LIV Golf League three years ago, but is now plotting a return at the famous Dunluce Links.

That was made clear when Poulter confirmed during an ITV interview at Royal Ascot on Thursday that he had played a practice round at Royal Cinque Ports ahead of Final Qualifying.

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The Kent course is one of the four Final Qualifying sites on July 1, with a minimum of 16 places up for grabs in total for the lowest scorers across 36 holes at the different links venues.

“I was down at Royal Cinque Ports playing a practice round for the Open Championship,” Poulter said in the interview alongside his Majesticks teammate Lee Westwood.

This will be the first time Poulter has entered the gruelling marathon since slipping down the world rankings following his LIV switch.

The 49-year-old was on a family holiday in Switzerland as his other LIV teammate Sam Horsfield qualified at West Lancashire last year.

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Poulter is currently 46th in the LIV standings this season, with a best finish of T8 in Korea.

With a strong field assembling Poulter will also have Graeme McDowell for company at Cinque Ports.

McDowell, of course, grew up at Portrush so is desperate to play a hometown major once more after an emotional homecoming in 2019.

LIV golfers, however, will not have ideal preparation as they finish a tournament at the Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas just two days before Final Qualifying.

“I’m going to Royal Cinque Ports on the Tuesday right after Dallas,” McDowell said. “Maybe not the best prep in the world coming from Dallas to London, but I’ll be pretty fired up.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.