Ian Poulter has explained his absence from the Vivendi Trophy in Paris this week by saying he wants to avoid burn-out. Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie yesterday criticised the English golfer — top-scorer against the Americans last year — for turning down the chance to play for Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe.
“I really want to be fresh and strong for all of the Ryder Cup qualifying events that I’m going to play in — the Ryder Cup means everything to me,” Poulter told his Twitter followers.
“It would have been great to play the Seve Trophy (the old name for the Vivendi Trophy), but the schedule becomes very difficult to play every event — so important not to burn out.
“The Vivendi Trophy will be awesome to highlight some potential new Ryder cup players — Fisher, McIlroy, Kjeldsen, Quiros, Dougherty, Wood etc.”
Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia also decided not to play, while Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer are injured and Pádraig Harrington and Luke Donald are playing in America.
Poulter failed to make it to the Tour Championship by one shot and is having a number of weeks off before a busy end-of-year schedule — much of it in the Far East.
