Golf - SIngapore Open:Ian Poulter embarked on an action-packed two months by taking a one shot clubhouse lead at the end of the first day of the rain-interrupted €3.4million Barclays Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club where nine Irishmen are in action.
Poulter showed no signs of rustiness despite heading to Sentosa on the back of a six week lay-off, and shipped just a solitary bogey to card a five-under-par 66.
The flamboyant Englishman tops the leaderboard, one ahead of Ernie Els and qualifier Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei, although half of the field were unable to complete their opening rounds after a thunderstorm brought heavy rain and a delay of just under three hours.
Poulter, though, was safe in his hotel resting, with the Singapore Open marking the first tournament in a run of seven back-to-back events in Asia, the Middle-East and South Africa.
The 33-year-old last took to the course at the BMW Championship, the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup play-offs, in the middle of September which rounded off an encouraging PGA Tour season.
“I didn’t know what to expect this week. I have practised pretty hard over the last three weeks trying to get ready for seven weeks on the bounce,” said Poulter.
“It’s nice be able to come out fresh. To take some time off in the latter part of the year, do some good work and come out with some good intentions for the next five or six weeks.
“As many balls as you hit on the range, you don’t know what it will be like, that is just my fourth round of golf in seven weeks.”
As for the Irish contingent Peter Lawrie, Graeme McDowell both completed their opening rounds of level par while Pádraig Harrington and Gary Murphy -,playing on a sponsor’s invite - were also level after 10 and six holes respectively.
Paul McGinley shot a disappointing 73 before darkness brought an end to the day’s play just before 7pm local time.
Damien McGrane and Michael Hoey were one and two-over respectively after seven holes, while Darren Clarke was three-over after six and Shane Lowry four-over after six after the Irish Open champion started with a double-bogey.
Phil Mickelson is one of the big draws in Singapore this week and the American left-hander is just three off the pace after carding a 69.
As for the leader, Poulter is currently ranked 29th in the Race to Dubai and eager to boost his earnings while also make an early mark on the Ryder Cup points table. Singapore kicks-off a potentially lucrative run with next week’s new World Golf Championships event in Shanghai and the Hong Kong Open leading up to the season-ending Dubai World Championship at the end of November.
“I am always looking for a win. Whether it’s European Tour, Asia or the PGA, I want to win every week,” added the world number 21. “I have got myself in reasonable shape in the six weeks I have had off and hopefully I am going to have a strong finish to the year.
“I have seven tournaments, five of which have Ryder Cup points attached to them. So with that in mind, if I can play really solid in those counting five then I will be happy.
“Then there is the Race to Dubai and I have four more tournaments to count for that. If I can win and play solid then I will have a chance to catch a lot of people up because they are big tournaments.”
