Ian Poulter explains reason behind missing Open Qualifying as LIV star’s major absence continues

Ian Poulter has opened up on his decision not to head to Final Open Qualifying and try to earn a spot at the final major championship of the season at Royal Troon.

Poulter will miss his eighth major event in a row later this month, with the Englishman’s last performance at a flagship event coming at the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews where he finished in a tie for 62nd. Since then Ryder Cup hero missed all four majors in 2023, and the same fate has followed this year.

The key reasoning behind the Majesticks captain’s absence from the major scene is his fall in the Official World Golf Ranking, which has stemmed from his decision to join LIV Golf in June 2022.

His only way of therefore booking a trip to Royal Troon this month would have been to turn to Final Qualifying on Tuesday, but this is an event Poulter opted to skip in order to spend time with his family. “My world ranking is not high enough to get into the Open Championship,” he told talkSPORT

“I had the ability to go and qualify and I didn’t. I was on holiday with the family in Switzerland instead. That is what LIV Golf has given me, a bit more family time. I still have got a busy schedule with LIV playing 14 tournaments.” One man who did opt to turn to qualifying was Poulter’s LIV teammate Sam Horsfield.

And it was an opportunity he took full advantage of, prevailing as one of the four qualifiers after 36 holes of golf at West Lancashire. In testing conditions, Horsfield carded an impressive six-under-par across his two rounds, winning the event alongside English amateur Matthew Dodd-Berry.

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The final two spots were then taken by Daniel Brown and Masahiro Kawamura, who finished a shot back of the two leaders at five-under. In the aftermath Horsfield hailed the impact of both Poulter and fellow Majesticks co-captain Lee Westwood, who have have taken the 27-year-old under their wing since his move to LIV.

He told Mirror Sport: “[Westwood and Poulter have massively [helped], and not just on golf course stuff. “Westy over the years has been known as one of the best drivers of a golf ball to every play. Then obviously Ian has an unbelievable short game, one of the best I have ever seen.

So I am always picking his brain about how to hit certain chips from different lies, hitting pitching wedges, not just the typical American lob wedge you know, play different shots. I think he learned some of his stuff from Seve [Ballesteros] so it has sort of made its way down. They are also obviously great company, a great group of guys.”