Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English golfer who is a member of the world’s top two professional golf tours, the U.S. based PGA Tour and the European Tour.

Born in Hitchin, Poulter’s first professional win was the Open de Côte d’Ivoire on the European Tour’s second tier Challenge Tour in 1999, and he won promotion to the European Tour itself via the Qualifying School later that year. In his first season he claimed the Italian Open title and was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2000. Further wins followed in each of the next four seasons, most prestigiously the season ending “tour championship” the Volvo Masters in 2004. He was in the top ten on the Order of Merit in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

After narrowly missing a place in the 2001 European Ryder Cup team, Poulter was a member of the victorious squad in 2004. This entitled him to take up membership of the PGA Tour in 2005, and he divided his time between the two tours in since then. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings. He is well known for his often radical dress sense, including trousers featuring the famous Claret Jug, worn at both the 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. Commentating for the BBC, Seve Ballesteros cruelly jibed that this was “the closest [Poulter] would ever get to it”.

Poulter has been hotly tipped as one of the brightest up and coming stars of the PGA European Tour since his first appearance in 2000. However with several appearances on the more prominent US PGA Tour he has not fulfilled his potential on the major stage and despite a string of good finishes in some of the worlds top events he has yet to break his duck by claiming any of the worlds top titles. Nevertheless Poulter is still highly regarded as one of the best golfers in Europe.

Poulter appeared in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006, a videogame released by EA Sports, as a fellow professional along with a host of other leading players in the world such as Luke Donald, Annika Sörenstam and Natalie Gulbis.

Outside of the computer industry Poulter is now sponsored by Cobra after he left TaylorMADE, for the start of the 2006 season. He also has his own clothing line due for release in 2007.

Poulter is well known for being an avid fan of the London-based football club Arsenal FC. He has on several occasions appeared with the team’s crest on his shoes, and he even controversially wore the team’s jersey during an event (immediatly after the event the rule was changed to stop future players wearing football jerseys). He is an avid car collector and along with his new purchase of the Ford GT40, he has owned a Ferrari and a Nissan skyline along with an Aston Martin DB9.

At the Mercedes-Benz Championship in September of 2007, Poulter smashed a tee marker in a show of frustration and was fined. Also, in 2006 Poulter paid a £5,000 fine after verbally abusing a marshal at the Irish Open.

Media Controversy
In the March issue of Golf World(U.K.) Poulter said that as long as reaches his potential, he will challenge Tiger Woods for the #1 world ranking. At the 2008 Dubai golf tournament, Poulter said that he was misquoted, and that he aspired to be ranked #2.

Professional wins (9)

European Tour wins (7)
2000 Italian Open
2001 Moroccan Open
2002 Italian Open
2003 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open, Nordic Open
2004 Volvo Masters Andalucia
2006 Madrid Open

Challenge Tour wins (1)
1999 Open de Côte d’Ivoire

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)
2007 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament

Team appearances
Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2004 (winners)
World Cup (representing England): 2001, 2007
Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2003 (winners), 2005 (winners)