Poulter basks in recognition from some of golf's legends

THE money was great and the rise up the rankings a thrill, but those two things were not what meant most to Ian Poulter after he became a world champion last month.

"Greg Norman gave me a call, Nick Faldo dropped me a line and Arnold Palmer wrote me a letter," said Poulter in Miami today on the eve of the WGC-CA Championship and his bid to make it two world titles out of two this season.

"I can't express how much it means. It's just so nice – Greg was just off to Asia and took time out of his schedule to call.

"And when Arnie sends you a letter to say he was watching and 'congratulations, well played' it can't really get better than that.

"I was asked the question straight after I won what it meant and I couldn't answer it, but when you have people you've admired and followed contacting you and saying the things they said it's great."

There was also a text from Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie among the many other messages and with him now a near-certainty for a third cap in October Poulter feels a huge weight lifted.

"I can have fun and I've never had that mindset in a Ryder Cup year," added the world No 5, who went right to the wire before clinching a debut in 2004 and two years ago, of course, was given a controversial wild card by Faldo after not going back to Europe for the final qualifying event.

"Winning such a big event so early in the year has taken the pressure off and that's massive."

It has also given him an insight into what winning a major would be like – and at next month's Masters he hopes to experience it for real.

He is playing this week and next week, then has the two-day Tavistock Cup (possibly featuring Tiger Woods' comeback] and two weeks to prepare for Augusta.

"I'm planning to go up there on the Monday and Tuesday the week before," he added.