Poulter primed for second Stenson pursuit

Ian Poulter is confident he can record a first victory of 2014 at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai this week – and hopes to successfully pursue friend Henrik Stenson in The Race to Dubai as a result.

A disappointing 2014 has come to life for The Ryder Cup star during The Final Series, with a sixth placed finish at the WGC-HSBC Champions and a runner-up finish in last week’s Turkish Airlines Open taking him from 64th to 14th in The Race to Dubai.

And while Rory McIlroy has already sewn up the number one spot, Poulter is keen to catch Stenson, for whom he had to serve drinks 12 months ago after failing to prevent the Swede becoming European Number One.

Stenson currently lies second in the rankings, but with 1,666,600 points on offer for the winner at Jumeirah Gold Estates, Poulter still has an opportunity to increase his share of the Bonus Pool and finish runner-up to McIlroy.

“Number One is gone, but there's still a big bonus for number two and that would upset number two right now,” said Poulter.

“I'm still chasing Mr. Stenson down like I was chasing him last year.

“Second's on, bring it on. Chase the Stenson down again. It's nice to come into this stretch and feel like you can salvage something of 2014. To go sixth, second, and it would be nice to win this week and move nicely up that board - that's the goal for this week.”

Poulter held a six shot lead at the halfway stage in Antalya last week, and admits there is a sense of frustration that he has not cashed in on either of his last two good performances with a win.

“Obviously last week was a good week, but slightly disappointing not to finish the job off,” he added.

“The pleasing thing is the new equipment that's gone in has gone in and I've settled into it very quickly, which potentially might have been a concern to a few people.

“I think if I sit back and analyse the last three weeks, overall, I'm very, very happy, but just slightly disappointed that I haven't managed to get across the line at HSBC and obviously last week; with a six shot lead after two days, I should have pressed on and got the job done.

“But coming into a golf course that I like and I've had good success here, being pipped by Robert Karlsson in the play-off and obviously Henrik last year.  I like the golf course, I like the setup, and hopefully we can go one better.”

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