Poulter exits Turnberry after harbouring high hopes

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Twelve months after posting his best finish in a major with a runner-up spot at Royal Birkdale, Ian Poulter crashed out of the British Open with an ugly nine-over-par 79 on Friday.

The flamboyantly-dressed Englishman struggled in tricky winds and intermittent rain during the second round, two double-bogeys and one triple ensuring he would miss the cut by a considerable margin.

Although Poulter signed off with a birdie at the 17th, two days of poor golf gave him a 14-over total of 154.

"Seriously there were no decent golf shots out there," the 33-year-old told reporters.

"If you're going to play as bad as I played for two days, it doesn't matter what golf course you're playing.

"It could have been the easiest municipal down the road and I would have missed the cut. It was horrible."

A seven-times winner on the European Tour, Poulter had been one of the favourites at Turnberry, British bookmakers William Hill making him joint second best behind Tiger Woods at 28/1.

An opening 75 in ideal scoring conditions put him on the back foot, however, and his hopes of making the cut effectively disappeared when he double-bogeyed the second and triple-bogeyed the fifth.