Ian Poulter ‘super-excited’ ahead of Masters after Houston Open win

Ian Poulter celebrated an “amazing” victory and declared himself “super excited” after winning the Houston Open to book his place in the Masters.

The 42-year-old Englishman defeated American rookie Beau Hossler at the first play-off hole after sensationally holing a 20-yard birdie putt at the final regulation hole to force sudden death.

Poulter, who was claiming his first win since the WGC-HSBC Champions in China in November 2012, admitted afterwards that he had been given additional motivation this week after just missing out last week through his world rankings position and a mix-up during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

He found himself 51st in this week’s world rankings, with the top 50 players receiving an invite to Augusta National, which came two days after being informed that he had done enough to qualify ahead of his quarter-final in Mexico, only to be told 10 minutes before his defeat to Kevin Kisner that he required another victory.

He told Sky Sports: “I wanted to win this week. Last week was a big disappointment, as well as I played and not quite getting it done.

“I came here with a mindset of being super-aggressive – I was probably a bit too aggressive, a bit angry on Thursday – but I settled back down Friday, Saturday, Sunday and it truly is amazing to get this done today.

“I’m drained. Last week was emotional but I’m going to find the energy for next week. To be back in the top 50 nicely, to have a two-year exemption, to be going there freewheeling is going to be really nice. And playing the way I’m playing and putting the way I’m putting, I’m super excited!

“I’m going to have a good day’s rest tomorrow. I’m not going to be venturing to Augusta until Tuesday and this one is going to take a while to sink in.

“It’s taken me a while to win on the PGA Tour in a strokeplay event and I’ve done it well today.

“It’s been a roller-coaster the last couple of years, I’ll be honest. To be down where I was, was tough. I knew the good stuff was in there and it’s good for it to come out at just the right time.”

Poulter had been pencilled in as part of the Sky Sports team for the Masters, but he added: “To get me to Augusta is truly amazing. I was supposed to be holding one of these [microphones] with you guys if I didn’t get it done, so I’m sorry!”

Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth is heading to the Masters in an optimistic mood after closing with a six-under 66 to share third place in Houston.

The 24-year-old American, who won at Augusta in 2015, said: “I’m very pleased with my six under. Goal accomplished for the week and I’ve made some big strides from my last couple of tournaments so I’m very excited for what next week holds.

“On and around the greens I have just been looking for what’s been off, why does it not look the same to me?

“Today I was able to have pressure-packed putts where I trusted what I was working on from the beginning of the week and it still looked good to me and the ball started on line.

“So that combination is how I get back to the putting that I am used to seeing. I’ll just try and nail it in the next few days and do a lot of speed control at Augusta and hopefully start out putting a bit better than this week and have a chance on the weekend.”

(c) Sky News 2018: Ian Poulter ‘super-excited’ ahead of Masters after Houston Open win