IAN Poulter is trying his best to put thoughts of Ryder Cup qualification out of his mind – but the issue refuses to disappear as he goes into this week's US PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
Whether it is memories of his Ryder Cup debut at the same course in the 18-9 European victory over the United States or questions from the media regarding his place on the verge of 2008 captain Nick Faldo's team, Poulter can try as hard as he l
ikes but the biennial clash is never far from view.
The Open runner-up followed up his strong Royal Birkdale finish with a tie for 16th at last weekend's WGC Bridgestone Invitational, sending the Englishman up to seventh on the world points list for the team and only 20,000 points behind his friend Justin Rose on the European points list.
Now Poulter has targeted a third big finish in succession at what is another big points-scoring event so he can put the matter to bed.
"Obviously the last couple of weeks has put me in a slightly different position than what I was four weeks ago," Poulter said. "So, yeah, I understand that I'm 20,000 behind Justin and about 25 world ranking points out of position on the world list.
"There's no point looking at it any more. I understand where I am and I understand that these four days coming up are going to be very important.
"So I just need to play well, to be honest. What will be what will be. I can't worry about it too much. I can't keep thinking about it because it will take its toll, and I don't want to keep letting it affect my routine for this week.
"I just know what I've got to do. I can only do what I can do and that is play good golf this week. If I play well, I'll be in the side.
"If I play solid for the next four tournaments that I'm going to play, if I'm not in the side, I'm sure going to have a chance to be getting a pick. That's what I do know.
"There's just been an awful lot of talk about it and I've just got to get out there and play golf and enjoy myself. If I do that, then I'll be in the side."
Poulter is also anxious to avoid the matter of Ryder Cup qualification overshadowing his bid for major success at Oakland Hills this week. That said, he recognises his finishing position on Sunday will dictate whether he can continue playing in the States with the pressure off or return to Europe for the KLM Open and Johnnie Walker Championships.
"I feel the way I've played, if I play well this week, then it makes it a very easy decision for me to probably stay this side of the pond and try and have two weeks off before the Ryder Cup, i.e next week and then the week before the Ryder Cup," he continued.
"That's what I want to do, that's probably the best decision for me, for my health, for staying fresh is how I want to look towards the end of this week.
"If I really play well this week, then I'm going to be very fresh for the Ryder Cup. And that's how I want to keep it.
"If something needs to change by Sunday night, then we might have to look into possibly doing that (going to Europe], but that's something which I don't really want to keep talking about this week.
"This week is a big week and I'm playing good golf. So I don't want to try and get past this next week yet."
The full article contains 643 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
