Early career

Born in Hitchin, Poulter took up the game at the age of four when his single-handicap father, Terry, gave him a cut-down 3-wood. His older brother Danny is also a professional golfer. Unable to get a place as a pro at a private club, he became the assistant pro and golf shop manager at the Chesfield Downs Golf Club. There he was forced by his boss to pay a full green fee every time he wanted to play in a competition. His handicap hence stayed at four, because he did not play in competitions. Following this period, Poulter joined as Assistant Pro at Leighton Buzzard golf course, giving lessons to youngsters at £1 a time.

Professional career

Poulter turned professional in 1996 gaining his first win at the 1999 Open de Côte d'Ivoire on the European Tour's second tier Challenge Tour. He won promotion to the European Tour itself via the qualifying school later that year.

In his first season, he claimed the Italian Open title and was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2000. Further wins followed in each of the next four seasons, most prestigiously the season ending "tour championship" the Volvo Masters in 2004. He was in the top ten on the Order of Merit in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012. In 2013, he finished 2nd on the Order of Merit, his highest placing so far.

After narrowly missing a place in the 2002 European Ryder Cup team, Poulter was a member of the victorious squad in 2004, where he officially scored the winning points for his team. This entitled him to take up membership of the PGA Tour in 2005, and he has divided his time between the two tours since then.

At the 2008 Masters Tournament, Poulter made a hole-in-one at the 16th hole at Augusta National in the first round. At the 2008 Open Championship, Poulter had the clubhouse lead on the last round before being beaten by defending champion Pádraig Harrington. In the 2008 Ryder Cup, Poulter was the highest points scorer on either side as he scored 4 of Europe's 11.5 points. Europe lost the Ryder Cup 16.5-11.5.

In the 2009 Players Championship, he finished in sole possession of second place at eight under-par, four shots behind the winner, Henrik Stenson. In November 2009, Poulter won the Barclays Singapore Open at the Sentosa Club. He moved into the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in January 2010 with a second-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

In February 2010, he won his first tournament on U.S. soil, beating fellow Englishman Paul Casey 4&2 in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. The win moved him to 5th in the world rankings. His ranking gained Poulter a place in the 2010 Ryder Cup in September at Celtic Manor in Wales He won 3 points in the 4 matches he played in the European team's win by 14.5 points to 13.5. In November 2010, he won his second title of the year with a one-stroke victory in the UBS Hong Kong Open.

On 23 February 2011, in Marana, Arizona, Poulter became the first defending champion in nine years to be eliminated in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He did however enjoy greater success in the European Tour's own match play event, the Volvo World Match Play Championship where he won the title beating Ryder Cup teammate Luke Donald, 2&1, in the final. He had previously beaten the world number one Lee Westwood, Francesco Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts to get to the final. This was Poulter's second tournament win in a match play event and eleventh European Tour victory. As a result of his win Poulter moved up from 22nd to 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking..

Poulter was one of José María Olazábal's two "captains picks" for the European Team at the 2012 Ryder Cup. He won all the 4 matches he played over the three days of the event, and was a key figure in sparking his team's victory by 14.5 points to 13.5.

On 4 November 2012, Poulter won the second World Golf Championship of his career at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shenzhen, China, coming from four strokes back in the final round to win by two from four other players. He shot a final round of 65 which included 8 birdies in his first 15 holes to seize control and despite a late bogey, closed out the victory by two strokes. He became only the second European to have won multiple WGC events after Darren Clarke. The victory took Poulter to 15th in the rankings.

At the 2015 Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, Poulter had a three shot lead going into the final round of the rain delayed event. However he had a disastrous four-over-par final round of 74, where he found the water five times, included twice on the 14th hole which cost him a triple bogey. Poulter would finish in a tie for third, one shot outside of the playoff, which was won by Pádraig Harrington. It was his first 54 hole lead on the PGA Tour and he still to date has never won a non-WGC PGA Tour event. In the same year, Poulter was in a predicament. He fell to 51st in the OWGR and was not exempt for the WGC-HSBC Champions, and had failed to enter the UBS Hong Kong Open. He was also at risk of losing his European Tour card since he had only played in 12 events, one short of membership and Ryder Cup eligibility. He only earned entry to the Hong Kong Open after Rich Beem gave up his sponsor exemption to allow Poulter to compete.

In March 2016, Poulter held the 54-hole lead at the Puerto Rico Open, an alternate event on the PGA Tour. He led by one stroke entering the final round, but shot an even par round which included just the one birdie, to finish in a tie for third, one stroke outside of the playoff. This was only the second time that Poulter had held a 54 hole lead in a stroke play event on the PGA Tour and he is still yet to win one. The result was however his best on tour for over a year.

Clothing

Poulter is well known for his eccentric dress sense, inspired by his mother who managed the Letchworth branch of UK women's fashion chain Dorothy Perkins. His most famous pieces include trousers featuring the famous Claret Jug, worn at both the 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. Commentating for the BBC, Seve Ballesteros jibed that this was "the closest would ever get to it".

He is an avid fan of football club Arsenal. He has on several occasions appeared with the team's crest on his shoes, and he even controversially wore the team's shirt during an event, gaining widespread ire for flying in the face of golfing tradition (immediately after the event the rule was changed to stop future players wearing football jerseys). In addition to his golfing career, Poulter launched Ian Poulter Design (IJP Design) in 2007.

Controversy

In the March issue of Golf World (UK) in 2008, Poulter was quoted saying "Don't get me wrong, I really respect every professional golfer, but I know I haven't played to my full potential and when that happens, it will be just me and Tiger."

Following the European Team's loss in the 2008 Ryder Cup, Poulter accused Anthony Kim, who was on the American team, of body checking him in the middle of a match, which Kim denied and said it was an accident.

In April 2010, Poulter was strongly rebuked for using an anti-Semitic nickname for Tottenham Hotspur fans in one of his Twitter posts. He has since apologised.

In October 2010, Poulter tweeted videos of him with the Ryder Cup trophy at his Florida home, including a video of him and his children eating cereal out of the trophy sparking controversy.

In March 2014, Poulter called Japanese first-year pro Hideki Matsuyama an "idiot" on Twitter during the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Matsuyama had accidentally damaged the 13th green while putting during treacherous conditions. Poulter claimed that Matsuyama failed to repair it himself. Matsuyama later apologized directly to Poulter.

In October 2014, PGA of America president Ted Bishop responded to Poulter's criticism of the Ryder Cup captaincy of Nick Faldo and Tom Watson by calling Poulter a "lil girl", which led to Bishop's firing. The PGA called Bishop's statements "unacceptable" and "insensitive gender-based".

Personal life

Poulter is married to Katie; the couple have four children, and live in Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida. The couple also have a home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

Poulter is an avid car collector, and along with his 2008 purchase of a Ford GT, he has a Bentley Continental GT, a Ferrari California, and has owned a Ferrari, Nissan Skyline and an Aston Martin DB9. As of August 2015, Poulter has 2 million followers on Twitter, which is the second most on the PGA Tour to Tiger Woods with 4.7 million followers.

Sponsorships

Poulter currently has an endorsement with the following companies: IJP Design, Mutual of Omaha, Titleist, Nikon, EA Sports, MasterCard, Oakley, Fathead, Audemars Piguet, Marquis Jet.

Professional wins (16)

PGA Tour wins (2)

Legend

World Golf Championships (2)

Other PGA Tour (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	21 Feb 2010	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	4 and 2			Paul Casey
2	4 Nov 2012	WGC-HSBC Champions	69-68-65-65=267	-21	2 strokes	Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Scott Piercy

European Tour wins (12)

Legend

World Golf Championships (2)

Other European Tour (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	29 Oct 2000	Italian Open	66-67-65-69=267	−21	1 stroke	Gordon Brand, Jnr
2	15 Apr 2001	Moroccan Open	71-67-69-70=277	−15	2 strokes	David Lynn
3	3 Nov 2002	Italian Open	61-67-69=197	−19	2 strokes	Paul Lawrie
4	1 Jun 2003	Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open	65-67-68-70=270	−18	3 strokes	Darren Fichardt, Jonathan Lomas, Jarrod Moseley
5	10 Aug 2003	Nordic Open	68-67-65-66=266	−22	1 stroke	Colin Montgomerie
6	31 Oct 2004	Volvo Masters Andalucia	71-67-69-70=277	−7	Playoff	Sergio García
7	17 Sep 2006	XXXII Banco Madrid Valle Romano Open de Madrid Golf Masters	67-66-64-69=266	−22	5 strokes	Ignacio Garrido
8	1 Nov 2009	Barclays Singapore Open1	66-64-72-72=274	−10	1 stroke	Liang Wen-chong
9	21 Feb 2010	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	4 and 2			Paul Casey
10	21 Nov 2010	UBS Hong Kong Open1	67-60-64-67=258	−22	1 stroke	Simon Dyson, Matteo Manassero
11	22 May 2011	Volvo World Match Play Championship	2 and 1			Luke Donald
12	4 Nov 2012	WGC-HSBC Champions	69-68-65-65=267	−21	2 strokes	Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Scott Piercy

1 Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	18 Nov 2007	Dunlop Phoenix	−11 (65-68-67-69=269)	3 strokes	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño

Asian Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	1 Nov 2009	Barclays Singapore Open1	66-64-72-72=274	−10	1 stroke	Liang Wen-chong
2	21 Nov 2010	UBS Hong Kong Open1	67-60-64-67=258	−22	1 stroke	Simon Dyson, Matteo Manassero

1 Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	18 Dec 2011	JBWere Masters	65-68-69-67=269	−15	3 strokes	Marcus Fraser

Challenge Tour wins (1)

• 1999 Open de Côte d'Ivoire

Other wins (1)

• 2010 The Shark Shootout (with Dustin Johnson)

Results in major championships

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T31	T33	DNP	T13	T25	T20
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T57	T12	T36	WD	T18
The Open Championship	T64	DNP	T50	T46	T25	T11	CUT	T27	2	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	DNP	T61	T37	T47	T9	T23	T31	T19

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Masters Tournament	T10	T27	7	CUT	T20	T6	T49
U.S. Open	T47	CUT	T41	T21	T17	T54
The Open Championship	T60	CUT	T9	T3	CUT	CUT
PGA Championship	WD	T39	T3	T61	T58	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	3	7	12	11
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	4	12	9
The Open Championship	0	1	1	2	3	5	15	10
PGA Championship	0	0	1	1	2	4	14	11
Totals	0	1	2	3	8	20	53	41

• Most consecutive cuts made - 7 (2004 Open Championship - 2006 U.S. Open)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 2 (2012 Open Championship - 2012 PGA)

World Golf Championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
2010	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	n/a	4 & 2		Paul Casey
2012	WGC-HSBC Champions	4 shot deficit	−21 (69-68-65-65=267)	2 strokes	Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Scott Piercy

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Cadillac Match Play Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	QF	4	R64	R16	R32
Cadillac Championship	NT1	DNP	T44	DNP	T18	T2	T16	T57
Bridgestone Invitational	T13	DNP	T33	DNP	T33	T13	T30	T16

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Cadillac Championship	T13	T37	T45	T60	T28	T52	T49
Cadillac Match Play Championship	R16	1	R64	R64	4	R64	T34
Bridgestone Invitational	T15	T65	T68	T29	T19	T52	T17
HSBC Champions	T45	T13	T13	1	2	T6	T30

1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2004 (winners), 2008, 2010 (winners), 2012 (winners), 2014 (winners)

Ryder Cup points record

2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	Total
1	-	4	3	4	1	13

• World Cup (representing England): 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
• Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2003 (winners), 2005 (winners), 2011 (winners)
• EurAsia Cup (representing Europe): 2016 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]