Ian Poulter said Michael Jordan tried to get in his head at the 2012 Ryder Cup

For anyone that was ever confused why Michael Jordan was always picked to be an advisor for the American Ryder Cup team, now we know.

Ian Poulter, who debuted his Sirius/XM radio show this week, got it rolling with a great story about Jordan and himself at the 2012 Ryder Cup.

As you remember, Poulter was absolutely lights out that week, turning into an almost superhuman golfer with his clutch shots and putts to give the European a boost that ended up helping them pull off an incredible comeback victory at Medinah.

Poulter said Jordan tried to get in his head at one point, but even the greatest basketball player in the world couldn't crack Poulter's focus as he found a zone that few golfers have ever uncovered.

"I remember walking off the tee box at 13, looking over and he kind of wagged his, I don't know if you can call it a finger, it looked like an arm, this big finger comes up and he was wagging it at me, pulling a face as if to say, 'We've got you,'" Poulter recalled.

"I'm a little golfer, Ian Poulter, playing golf in the Ryder Cup, and there's legend basketball player Michael Jordan psyching me out in the Ryder Cup," Poulter said. "And you know what? I said, 'I'm gonna hole this putt.' He'd done that for so many years on a basketball court. He hit the shot time and time again. I said to myself, 'I'm not going to allow him to get in my space.'

"He was playing his basketball game and ... it was my court, and he's not playing ball."

As you probably remember, Poulter and partner Rory McIlroy went on to win that Saturday match over Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner thanks to those five closing birdies by Poulter, something our guy at the time, Jonathan Wall, thought might propel the Europeans to a huge comeback on Sunday and a victory, which ended up happening.

This is what Wall wrote at the time.

"Ian Poulter is only one man, and Europe needs eight points on Sunday to retain the Cup, but if we learned anything from his stellar Saturday performance down the stretch, it's that you can never count out the underdog."

I'm getting the feeling that if these stories continue to come out of the new Poulter radio show, it could be a must-listen for golf fans.

- - - - - - -

Shane Bacon is the editor of Devil Ball Golf and Busted Racquet on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shanebaconblogs@yahoo.com or

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two Naked Pics Of Holly Sonders. The Big News To Emerge From The 2013 PGA Show

Image
The media centre at the 2013 PGA Show was buzzing yesterday.  Not because of anything that happened at the show.  God forbid! When I rocked in, several men (and one woman) were gathered around an iphone ogling and sharing  two pics of who they claimed were Holly Sonders naked. Now I have to hold my hands up and say, I had to google her to find out she’s from The Golf Channel. I don’t watch the Golf Channel because I don’t have an erectile dysfunction problem or need to rent a car from National.  I’m told adverts for both are all that’s on that channel. How they knew for certain it was her, I dont know.  Unless the cheeks of her ass were on her passport photo and they recognized them from there, but I doubt it. The First Pic The first pic is taken from behind. No pun intended.  The media guys say it was taken by her fiancee (?) and shows Holly in a white thong which has disappeared a dangerously long ways into the bummage.  I’m talking two aerial liquitabs and a hot whit
Read more

Sarah Stirk Nipple Gate: Navy Top Leaves Viewers Disappointed

Image
London: Sky Sports management this morning issued a statement  apologizing to subscribers after Sarah Stirk wore a navy dress live on air.  It is believed up to 60,000 horny golfers were left limp after they tuned in to final round coverage of the Valero Texas Open in the hope of getting a glimpse of the legendary Stirk starter buttons. “I pay my subscription, I’m bloody well entitled to see Sarah’s Wimbledon strawberries” said factory worker Paul Manning 52 from Hereford. “I even missed the ten minute freeview, coz my mate Derek tweeted that Stirk was going into the shot centre for ten minutes at 11pm”. The Sky statement read: We apologize unreservedly for the navy dress Sarah wore during last nights broadcast, through which no nipples were visible. This was due to a wardrobe malfunction. However we do intend to rectify this during our US Masters coverage and assure viewers that plenty of bridge rivets will be on show, both from Sarah and special guest Colin Montgomeri
Read more

Holly Sonders Quits Golf Channel After Contract Talks Fail. Moves To Fox.

Image
Tissues at the ready guys as this will come as a shock to you all that Holly Sonders , the female face of the Golf Channel, has quit and reportedly taken a job with Fox Sports. According to  reports Sonders, who appeared regularly on “Morning Drive” since 2011, could not come to an agreement on a new contract deal with the Golf Channel and was quickly snapped up by Fox Sports where she is expected to work on golf and NFL. Related: Holly Sonders Does The Ice Bucket Challenge We've had some fun with Holly over the last few years ( was that really her in those nudie pics? ) but now it looks like we'll be crying into those tissues. Join the GolfCentralDaily community on Twitter for loads more comment on and off the course. Follow @golfcentraldoc
Read more