Sporting red streaks in his hair to celebrate Arsenal’s FA Cup win and to match his Ferrari, England’s Ian Poulter celebrates with a bottle of champagne after winning the Wales Open on June 1, 2003.
Poulter survived a late stumble for the second day in succession to card a final round 70 for an 18-under-par total of 270 at Celtic Manor, three shots ahead of his nearest challengers.
Battling tonsilitis all week, the 27-year-old equalled a course record of 65 in the first round, although that was beaten by Australian Jarrod Moseley’s 63 two days later.
Poulter claimed the £250,000 first prize and rose from 135th to 14th in the Order of Merit as he maintained his record of winning a tournament every year since 2000.
After missing five cuts in his previous six tournaments, Poulter said: “I’m back. When you go through a bad spell people tend to forget about you but if you stick in and work hard you should be back in no time.”
The Milton Keynes golfer also won the Nordic Open two months later.
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