GOLF/90th US PGA CHAMPIONSHIP:THE TRICK is to keep your eye on the ball, metaphorically and literally in the case of Ian Poulter. Yesterday, as he sat into the interview chair at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township in the suburbs of Detroit, the Englishman juggled his own Ryder Cup aspirations with a growing belief that he is also a serious contender for this 90th US PGA championship.
He also knows that winning one - the PGA - would lead to achieving the other, a place on Europe's team for the Ryder Cup at Valhalla next month.
Last month, at Royal Birkdale, Poulter's final-round charge lifted him to a career-best finish in a major - runner-up in the British Open, albeit four strokes behind Pádraig Harrington.
He savoured his one and only Ryder Cup appearance here in 2004, and it is the thought of regaining a place on Nick Faldo's team that has occupied his mind most in recent months.
Now, mainly thanks to that British Open performance, Poulter has an automatic place within touching distance: he is just €20,492 behind Justin Rose, who occupies the 10th - and last - automatic place off the European points list, while he is seventh, 19 points behind fifth-placed Robert Karlsson, on the world points list from which the first five players will be selected.
"The last couple of weeks (since Birkdale) has put me in a slightly different position (from) four weeks ago," said Poulter. "I understand where I am, and I understand that these four days coming up are going to be very important to me . . . so, I just need to play well, to be honest with you. I can't keep thinking about it, because it will take its toll and I don't want it to keep affecting my routine this week. I can only do what I can do, and that is to play good golf."
It's easier said than done for Poulter to keep his mind off Ryder Cup permutations. Rose, one of his best pals on tour, has sent text messages reminding him of how close he has got to qualifying for the team . . . and he has also been in contact with team captain Faldo, who has stuck to his philosophy of keeping in touch with potential team members.
Had he received any words of encouragement from Faldo?
"Yeah, of course I have. Yeah, I've spoken to him. I'd like to make his side, and I think that he would quite like me to be on his side . . . as he would like Sergio (Garcia) and Paul (Casey) and a lot of guys.
"I've been friends with Nick for the past number of years and I've just been keeping in touch. He's always been very supportive of me, over the last year anyway, and I want to stay in contact.
"I don't want to stay out of the picture and then all of a sudden get thrown in and find yourself playing catch-up.
"I'm in a situation now where I'm close to making the side, and I think I've got a good chance of making it. So, therefore, I want to be kept in the picture of what his plans are, what his thoughts are, so it is not a rush job in four or five weeks . . . I want to know what's going to happen and what the team could be doing.
"Obviously, Nick's not going to speak to people that are way down the list, but he's made it clear that he's going to speak to his team members and his potential team members and he's kept contact with me."
If there were an ideal plan of campaign for Poulter, it would be that he earns enough points here at the PGA to book his place on the team. If that scenario were to arise, then he would simply stay on this side of the Atlantic and play the FedEx tournaments and have a week off before the Ryder Cup.
If he doesn't do well at the PGA, he may rearrange his schedule to take in the final qualifying tournament (the Johnnie Walker at Gleneagles) in Europe.
"If I play well this week, then it's a very easy decision for me to make to stay on this side of the pond . . . that's what I want to do, that's probably the best decision for my health, for staying fresh . . . this week is a big week and I'm playing good golf," said Poulter, who has risen to 23rd in the world rankings, a position that adds further weight to the observation that Faldo has greater strength in depth outside the automatic places - Garcia is sixth in the world and Luke Donald 21st - than the USA captain, Paul Azinger, who has four wild-card picks.
Indeed, Poulter was of the view that Azinger has a tougher job facing him than Faldo when it comes to determining the captain's picks.
"Right now, it is probably looking like Zinger's got some tough decisions to make. He's got four picks. He's got to do the right thing, and he's got to pick four good players. I'm not saying Nick doesn't have a hard job. He's potentially got three or four guys he'd like on his side and he has only got two picks . . . but I think Zinger, right now, has got the toughest decision."
