“Pathetic!” – Ian Poulter fumes at US TV treatment of Euros

Ryder Cup icon Ian Poulter has blasted American TV execs for their “pathetic” coverage of European golfers.

The Englishman was responding to a graphic displayed by CBS during the final round of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational at the weekend.

In the picture, title contenders Matt Fitzpatrick and Tom Lewis are displayed as have zero ‘Career Wins’.

That, though, is somewhat misleading. Fitzpatrick has won five times on the European Tour, whilst Lewis has won twice.

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The wins total displayed by the graphic pertains to the number of PGA Tour victories each player has accrued. However, it is catch-all of ‘Career Wins’ that appears to have riled Poulter.

He tweeted: “As a World Golf Championship event that consists of players who are exempt from around the World. Someone please explain how wins have been discredited because not in US. What would it have said if Seve was still playing ? 9 instead of 90 he actually won. This is pathetic.”

Thomas Bjorn, the mastermind of Europe’s 2018 Ryder Cup victory, and former world No.1 Lee Westwood also criticised the misleading info, which has become something of a trend during recent PGA Tour events.

This is just the latest example of Euros feeling slighted by American television coverage.

Earlier this year, Paul Azinger experienced an angry backlash when he referred to “that European Tour” whilst discussing Tommy Fleetwood’s career in a segment on NBC.

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