Rose’s climb such an incentive for good pal Poulter

Last updated at 00:19 14 June 2007

Five years have now passed

since Justin Rose and Ian

Poulter contested one of

the great duels in

European Tour history at

Woburn.

It wasn’t just the quality of their

play that has remained in the

mind’s eye; it was the manner in

which they played. They were like

two pals having a social match for

a fiver, cajoling and ribbing each

other.

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Rose ended up winning it but it

was Poulter who led the

applause. It was golf forged from

friendship and respect and how

the thousands who watched

them that day loved it.

Needless to say you hoped there

would be more such duels on still

bigger stages but, of course, they

went backwards, not up. Neither

was good enough to play in the

Masters last year, never mind

contest for the green jacket.

Now look at them, racing each

other up the world rankings. In

his last three American majors

Poulter has finished 12th, ninth,

and 13th. Rose was one stroke off

the lead with two holes to play at

the Masters in April.

A runner-up finish in the PGA

Championship at Wentworth last

month took Rose past his mate

and into the world’s top 20.

"Of

course I’m pleased that Justin is

up to 19th," Poulter, 30th, said with

a mischievous look. "But don’t

think it hasn’t been noted, that it

isn’t acting as a tidy incentive."

Never underestimate the little

friendly rivalries going on

throughout the sport. There’s

Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia

vying with each other to be the

first to win a major; Geoff Ogilvy

and Adam Scott winding each

other up in the grandest arenas.

Rose and Poulter come to the U.S.

Open in the form of their lives.

The former believes he is

thankfully over his recent back

problems and will be playing

pain-free for the first time since

February; Poulter has already

made nearly $1 million in the U.S.

this year and this is his sort of

course. His garb might be flash

but he’s at his best when the golf

required is conservative.

Poulter arrived at Oakmont 10

days ago and played nine holes

with another early bird, Tiger

Woods. "It was instructive to

watch him at work, the time he

spent on the greens figuring out

where the pin locations would be

and where it would be acceptable

to miss the target," he said.

The following day he played with Rose before the two flew back to

Orlando, where they have homes

just walking distance from one

another, to work on the shots

they will need.

ROSE’S spectacular

re-emergence over the

past nine months has

not gone unnoticed in

America, where he is the subject

of a long piece in this month’s

Golf Digest.

He talks of the belief instilled in

him by his new brash coach Nick

Bradley, who certainly doesn’t

suffer from a lack of self-regard.

"I’ve given myself mental

permission to become the best

golf coach in the world," he said,

a statement that would

ordinarily see him laughed out of

court but for his work with Rose.

Each week Bradley prepares

200-word documents that spell

out exactly what Rose should

focus on. "This week it’s all about

patience and having the right

attitude," Rose said. "I like having

somebody I can talk with about

everything that happened on the

course that day, to analyse it and

see what we achieved and what

we can try for tomorrow."

Three

double bogeys did for Rose on

the final day at Augusta and he

knows the key for him here is to

keep the big numbers off his

card.

"Everyone is going to make

mistakes but no double bogeys is

a smart plan for surviving at

Oakmont," he said.

Poulter admits he struggled for a

long time with his patience, his

short fuse frequently getting the

better of him.

"I never like to think negatively

and I couldn’t even contemplate

what I would have shot at

Oakmont five years ago," he

laughs. "But I believe I’ve

acquired the sense of humour

you need to do well on this type

of course. I played with the

winner, Geoff Ogilvy, in the final

round last year and that was a

good lesson in the value of staying

calm and hanging around. And I

couldn’t be better prepared."

Poulter starts with his eyes set

firmly on the main prize. But he’d

regard it as a decent consolation

if he did well enough to end up

standing in 18th place in the

world.