'I'm Not Sure It's Possible To Play Any Slower' - Poulter Takes Dig At Kevin Na

LIV Golf’s inaugural season draws to a close with the Team Championship at Trump National Doral in Florida this week. The action begins with teams seeded 5 to 12 facing off to determine the four that will reach the semi-final and play the top seeds.

Ian Poulter captains Majesticks GC against Kevin Na's Iron Heads GC – and the two men will play against each other in one of two singles matches. Both captains faced the media ahead of the tournament and it wasn’t long before Poulter took a cheeky dig at Na’s perceived slow play.

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It all started when Na commented on Lee Westwood’s age. The 49-year-old plays against Iron Heads GC’s Sihwan Kim in the other singles match and Na said: “Lee’s going to be on crutches, he’s getting old. He needs a cane out there. I think Sihwan’s going to have an extra cane in the back and just kind of hand it over to him on the first tee and start a little mind game.”

Poulter was quick to leap to the defence of his teammate, saying: “My old man’s been World No.1 too.” Talk then turned to the action, after which Poulter was asked if he would walk some putts in. He responded: “Listen, you’re talking about Kevin Na walking some putts in, right?” He then said: “I mean, listen, it could take him a while to walk a few in, it normally does.”

It’s possible that Poulter had touched a nerve at that moment, because Na has been called out on his perceived slow play in the past. Back in January, the American was involved in a Twitter spat with Grayson Murray. It began when Murray replied to a tweet from the Golf Channel's Chantel McCabe. In the tweet, McCabe wrote: “Kevin Na walking in putts does not get old.” Murray’s barbed response was: "Kevin Na taking 3 minutes to putt them does get old.” Na fired back: "U missing the cut is getting old!” Murray later said that, three months later at the Mexico Open, Na confronted him about the spat.

However, this time, if Na was offended by Poulter’s comment, he didn’t appear to take it too seriously responding: “Slower, can I play slower on purpose?” Poulter had the last word, though, joking:  “I’m not sure it’s possible to play any slower, Kev!”

it will be interesting to see how the two greet each other in the opening round. If Murray’s experience is anything to go by, Poulter could be in for an ear-bashing. However, perhaps more likely, the pair will get down to business as they attempt to help their respective teams towards a substantial share of the tournament’s $50 million purse.