Quail Hollow, NC …
Ian Poulter is no stranger to Quail Hollow but after starting his 15th PGA showing double bogey, birdie, bogey and bogey, and in an eventual “mentally draining“ three over par 74, the Englishman said the Charlotte course was a different animal compared to a Wells Fargo Championship.
His first round score was 1.94 shots higher than his PGA Championship average for his 51 prior rounds of 72.o6.
“I managed to hit only four fairways and if you only hit four fairways you are going to have to scramble and I scrambled all day“, he said.
“I had come here on Sunday to do my prep and the course was firey and it was a lot more-firmer than what it was today.
“I then went back home for a couple of days and came back and the course had softened up so I had a few mud balls out there today and that is going to happen when you get rain overnight. So, you are going to suffer with those in various places on the fairways.
“The greens are running like 14 and with every putt you are always afraid to hit it too hard. It looks like everyone out there is scared to hit putts because the greens are exceptionally quick. It is the same for everyone and you just have to get on and suck it up and go play golf.
“So, three over is not a decent score. It is an okay score and I finished okay but I have walked off the golf course having had to fight my way around the golf course. It was mentally tiring and to not drive the ball today, as well as I had thought and how I should have done, it was just hard work. I feel like I been kicked all day as you are fighting right from the start“.
Poulter has contested often the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour but changes made to the course in the off season have totally changed the character of the venue.
“It is not the same golf course with this new grass in place, so it is not even remotely close“, he said.
“It is a different animal. I cannot tell you have quick those greens are. “
