2010 was the year Ian Poulter shouldered his way onto the international golf scene, both as a result of his play and due to his irreverent (but near-constant) Twitter musings. He delights many and annoys many others, but hey, I'll take one polarizing Euro over 15 safe-talking beige white guys any day of the week.
In a press conference prior to the start of this week's Hyundai Tournament of Champions, he was forthright about his aims for 2011. "I have had the same mindset the last couple of years, trying to focus on the majors," he said. "Winning the WGC was the big thing for me, not only confidence-wise, but obviously to get the monkey off my back of winning on the PGA Tour. That was huge. That was one of the big goals last year ... Kind of the next step for me is to try to win a major. So that's what I've got to try and do this year. I've got to try and get focused and I have to try and stay rested and play well for those big tournaments."
He confessed to having no idea what awaited him in Kapalua, since he's rarely watching golf this time of year: "I know you can get up on 18. That's the only thing I know about this golf course from TV."
Also, someone asked him if Hawaii reminded him of the European courses he grew up playing, a question that I could answer. (No.)
So, there you go. Poulter may still be in "holiday mode," as he put it -- when one of the golf writers tried to quiz him on the golfers who'd won the British at Royal St. George's, he couldn't name anyone other than Ben Crane Curtis* (what, no love for Reg Whitcombe?) -- but if he plays as well as he's run his Twitterfeed mouth, he'll be just fine this year.
*-Clearly, Poulter isn't the only one still in "holiday mode."
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