Much may have been written about his hairstyle in the past but Ian Poulter ensured his golf was equally as stylish at Gut Lärchenhof as a superb second round 63 gave the Englishman the lead at the halfway stage of the Linde German Masters.
After opening with a 65, the 27 year old’s 16 under par total of 128 – the lowest total to par of the 2003 season on The European Tour International Schedule – moved him one stroke clear of Miguel Angel Jiménez while another English/Spanish duo of Miles Tunnicliff and Carlos Rodiles shared third on 14 under par 130.
As well as helping his Volvo Order of Merit position and giving him valuable Ryder Cup points, a victory on Sunday might also be enough to see him overtake Justin Rose and give him a place in the England team for the WGC – The World Cup in November.
But Poulter was content to put all the calculations to one side and simply concentrate on claiming his third title of the season after earlier victories in the Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open and the Nordic Open in Denmark.
“Somebody brought the World Cup issue to my attention at the start of the week,” he said. “I thought it might be out of reach for me but I was told I have to win to do it. I would love to play in it obviously but I am just going out over the weekend and play the way I have been.
“I want to try and focus on what I have been doing over the past few weeks which is hitting good golf shots, shot after shot, and if I manage to do that, then the rest of the stuff will take care of itself. But where I am at the moment, I am very, very happy.”
Should Poulter continue in a similar vein he will be a hard man to displace at the head of affairs, not having dropped a shot in 36 holes and managing 16 birdies along the way.
The Englishman started with two in a row in the second round and three in the last four holes of the outward half saw him to the turn in 31. Poulter’s hot golf did not ease up on the back nine either, notching four birdies in six holes from the 12th to move smoothly past Jiménez, who had set the clubhouse mark earlier in the day.
Like Poulter, the 39 year old Spaniard has yet to yield a shot to the Cologne course and went one better than his English counterpart with a scintillating second round 62 to add to his opening 67 for a 15 under par total of 129.
Jiménez revealed the reason for his prominence was that he felt so much at home in this delightful part of western Germany. “I have played well here in the past and I like the place which helps a lot,” he said.
“I also feel very comfortable on the golf course and this week it has been in perfect condition, it was superb. It also felt like back home in Malaga with the heat!”
In joint third place on 14 under par 130 after his second round 63, Miles Tunnicliff made his move on the outward half which he covered in 29 strokes, the first time in his professional career he had achieved such a milestone.
The Englishman, who won an emotional maiden victory last summer in the Great North Open a fortnight after his mother passed away, admitted that after such a great start, the magical figure of 59 had crossed his mind.
“It did for a moment but I tried to stop thinking about it and just concentrate on one shot at a time. Although I didn’t score quite as well on the back nine, I am really pleased with today overall because at last my putter got hot to go with my good golf elsewhere.”
Sharing third spot on 130 after his second round 65 was Spaniard Carlos Rodiles, who played in the final group on the third day in last week’s Trophée Lancôme before going on to finish eighth and he admitted he hoped to use the experience to his advantage over this weekend.
“I have been in the top ten a lot in the last few weeks so that is definitely a good improvement for me,” said Rodiles, who dropped a shot at the 16th but who picked up eight other birdies elsewhere.
“The more you are in that position, the more confident you get. Playing with Retief I felt a little bit of pressure and didn’t really feel that my swing was there. But if you keep doing it, you will get used to it.”
Four players shared fifth place on 13 under par 131, KJ Choi, Anders Hansen, Gary Orr and first round leader Fredrik Jacobson, who could not repeat the magic of his opening day 60, the damage being mainly done on the back nine where he dropped five shots in eight holes on his way to a 71.
“When I won in Portugal in April, I was leading after the first round and then fell back a little bit and then came back to win,” he said.
“It is difficult to do it but I have done it many times before. In the Majors this year I fell away a little bit on the Saturday and then came back strongly on the Sunday. I never give up, that is my motto. But I am still in it.”
While the leaders braced themselves for the weekend’s golfing action, Saturday and Sunday will exist only in an administrative fashion for tournament co-promoter Bernhard Langer, who missed the cut for the first time in his event.
“I am very disappointed,” said the Ryder Cup Captain, who added a level par 72 to his opening 70 to miss out by two shots as the cut fell at four under par 140. “I came here in good shape but I made too many bad strokes – my putts were good but my swing didn’t function properly.
“Normally in this situation I go home for the weekend to see my family because for my children it is not important that I make a cut or miss a cut, they are just happy when they can see me some more. But this week obviously, as organiser of the tournament, I will stay here.”
