Poulter steaming after silly putting

Published on Sunday 12 April 2009 01:24

IAN Poulter admits it will be a push but still gave himself an outside chance of slipping into the green jacket this evening after a four-under-par 68 in the third round at Augusta yesterday.

The Englishman, however, was "steaming" over one costly error during an otherwise impressive performance.

After his fourth three-putt bogey of the week on the ninth hole, the 2008 Open runner-up lamented: "That's silly. I've mapped out the greens the last three years and got every break, but I had a slight misread and then didn't hit the second putt hard enough.

"The only mistake I made was on nine. I had a 30-foot birdie putt and managed to convert that to a bogey which is really annoying. I was steaming. I have had four three-putts this week."

Stung by his three-putt bogey, Poulter reeled off three consecutive birdies on the inward half to climb up the leaderboard. The 33-year-old, who has finished no worse than tied for 33rd in his four previous Augusta appearances, launched his birdie run after reaching the green in two at the par-five 13th.

He then struck a seven-iron to six inches at the par-four 14th before two-putting from long range at the par-five 15th.

"They were three nice birdies, but I had a few extra chances on the back nine which I should have taken," said Poulter, a seven-times winner on the European Tour.

Asked how he viewed his chances going into today's final round, he replied: "It depends on how the course plays. If the greens stay softish and they have fairly generous pins you will be able to make some birdies but so will the leaders. I think seven shots might be a push."