Ian Poulter Mistakenly Told He Was In The Masters

Ian Poulter was left frustrated after narrowly missing out on a place at the 2018 Masters. The 42-year-old was misinformed of his qualification before being corrected just 10 minutes before his vital quarter-final match up against Kevin Kisner. By Lewis Blain.

Ian Poulter Mistakenly Told He Was In The Masters

After a superb 2&1 victory over Louis Oosthuizen in the last-16 of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Ian Poulter was told he had done enough to earn a place at The Masters next week.

However, 10 minutes before his quarter-final against Kevin Kisner, the 42-year-old was told he hadn't actually qualified and would need to defeat Kisner in order to secure his place at Augusta National.

Poulter went to 51st in the Official World Golf Ranking, narrowly missing out on a top 50 spot which would have seen him automatically entered into The Masters field.

Aggrieved by the matter, Poulter took to twitter to express his frustration.

"I guess I should never listen to other people," said a frustrated Poulter.

"You finish a round of golf and the press and everybody are telling you you're in the Masters, and then you get a text message 10 minutes before you tee off to correct everybody, to say 'oh, we've made a mistake, actually, no, that was wrong, you're not in'

"I asked three times, four times, 'are you sure, are you sure, are you sure?' And it was 'yeah, you're definitely in.'

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"No, I'm not definitely in. So next time I won't listen to other people, I'll do my bit and focus better. Not that that's an excuse of any form or factor, but it's a little disappointing.

Having made eight birdies in his morning match against Oosthuizen, Poulter was unable replicate that form as he crashed out of the quarter-finals by an 8&6 thrashing to the world number 36.

"I mean, I can't put that down as an excuse. It would be an excuse if I said it.

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"So it's disappointing to be given the wrong information, but that wasn't any part of this afternoon."

The former WGC-HSBC champion is set to miss The Masters for a second year running, unless he can win the Houston Open this week.

The likes of Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson are in the field for the event.

But Poulter isn't completely sure if he will tee it up at the Golf Club of Houston.

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"I'm tired. It's been a long week. It's been a draining week. I don't know.

"I'll wait until Monday night, and if I have the energy, then I will."

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