Ian Poulter Loses PGA Tour Card

Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter loses PGA Tour card for the first time since turning pro after missing the cut at the Valero Texas Open. By Harvey Jones

Ian Poulter Loses PGA Tour Card

Poulter had previously missed over four months at the end of last season with a foot injury and has been playing on a medical exemption.

This meant at the start of this season he needed to earn either 218 FedEx Cup points or £271,514 ($348,000) in 10 events to retain his full playing privileges on the PGA Tour.

Related: Ian Poulter's IJP Design clothing company to close

Following an 11th place finish at the RBC Heritage, the world number 190 went into the tournament needing just £23,905 ($30,639) to keep his status on the Tour.

But the former world number five shot an opening round of 75 which gave himself too much to do in the second round.

A score of 71 left him in a tie for 93rd to miss the cut and lose his PGA card.

Related: Top 12 Ian Poulter Ryder Cup facial expressions

This ended a miserable 10 months for Poulter, who also missed out on selection for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup through injury back in September.

What next for Poulter?

The 41-year-old, however, remained upbeat about the situation expressing that he "will come back stronger than ever" after joking with fans on Twitter that he was considering an early retirement.

"I'll try and qualify for U.S. Open, I'll try and qualify for The Open, I'll play some events in Europe. I'll play some more events over here and obviously I'll do what I need to do." he added, despite still being able to play on the PGA Tour through sponsor's invites.

The next event on the tour will be the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which will be a team event this year, where Poulter teams up with Geoff Ogilvy.