Tough luck last year, poor start this year, yet Poulter bounces back

LEMONT, Ill. -- A year ago, on the last hole that Ian Poulter played in the final round of the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, he hit his approach shot into the water guarding the 18th green. That unfortunately timed gaffe prevented Poulter, by the slimmest of margins, of advancing to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola for the first time in his career.

Fast-forward to this year. Thursday's first round, to be exact. Poulter, determined to make amends for last year's blown opportunity, steps up to hit his opening drive at this week's BMW Championship -- and promptly airmails it to the wrong side of the cart path right of the fairway.

He then sends his next shot into a greenside bunker.

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Then his ensuing bunker shot sails over the green into some area that will rarely be explored this week by any of his fellow pros.

A few strokes later, Poulter's ball lands in the cup at the par-4 10th hole -- his first of the day -- for a double bogey.

"Not how you want to start the third FedEx event," Poulter said.

Certainly not how you want to start if you rank 44th in the FedExCup standings and need a likely finish of seventh or better to move on to East Lake.

But the Englishman, despite his colorful fashion sense and witty charm, can be serious when necessary, especially when facing adverse conditions.

He showed that two years ago when he answered criticism of his selection to Europe's Ryder Cup team by being arguably the best player on his side. He showed it earlier this year when he broke through with his first TOUR win at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

And he showed it again Thursday after the opening double bogey. It helped that Poulter had plenty of time to refocus after such a jarring start to his tournament.

"I was glad the 10th green and 11th tee was about a 240-yard walk," Poulter said, "so I had enough time to defuse the situation myself and carry on with business. ... I suppose any good way of looking at it is there's 71 holes to go.

"I bounced back pretty good."

Yes, he did. A 15-foot, 7-inch birdie putt at the 12th and a whopping 73-feet, 2-inch birdie putt at the 14th got him back to even par. He then eagled the next hole, the par-5 15th, after his second shot landed inside 13 feet.

At that point, he was off and running en route to a 5-under 66 that puts him just two shots off the first-round lead held by Matt Kuchar.

There will be no letting off the gas this week for Poulter. He was bitterly disappointed not to reach THE TOUR Championship last year.

He had entered the 2009 BMW Championship right on the bubble, the 30th man in FedExCup points. With the top 30 advancing to East Lake, all Poulter had to do was to maintain his position.

Instead, his approach shot at the 18th ended up in a watery grave, and so did Poulter's Playoffs life. John Senden claimed the 30th and last spot. The point margin? 0.460.

For those who struggle in math, that's less than a half-point. Or, as Poulter noted Thursday, 1/16th of a shot.

"I don't want decimal points this year," Poulter said. "I'm going to win this golf tournament, and I want to win at East Lake and I want to go and enjoy myself at the Ryder Cup, so that's my goal."

Ah, the Ryder Cup. Unlike two years ago when he had to rely on a captain's pick, Poulter had long since clinched his spot on merit this time. So, along with the pressure of the Playoffs, he's gearing up for this year's event at Celtic Manor the first week of October.

"I'm trying to get myself in the groove," he said. "I want to perform again. It was special last time, and it will be special again."

The immediate goal, though, is to move into the top 30. Grab one of those coveted spots at THE TOUR Championship. And finally put to bed the memories of last year, the disappointing finish, the shot in the water.

It didn't look promising after the double-bogey start. But 17 holes after that, the prospects are much brighter. He's now projected to finish 13th, a move of 31 spots.

Of course, there are still 54 holes left.

"The way I look at it is I've either got a week off before the Ryder Cup or I've got two," Poulter said. "It's plain and simple as that."

He'll be more than happy just to have the one week and spend the other week at East Lake. After last year, Cog Hill owes him that, at the very least.