Fish and chips taste good for Poulter

An impromptu supper of fish and chips helped Ian Poulter recover from an unusually long day on the golf course as he powered his way up the leaderboard in the PGA Championship on Thursday.

Play was suspended for 36 minutes after a crack of thunder was heard over Wentworth late in the day and last week’s World Match Play champion was also held up by a 40-minute delay on the fourth tee.

“There were four groups on the tee when we got there,” Poulter told reporters after a three-under 68 pushed him within four strokes of leader Luke Donald. “It was one of the longest rounds of golf we are ever going to play.

“I only had protein bars in my bag and we made a pit stop at six o’clock (when play was suspended). That was a perfect dinner time for me so fish and chips it was.

“It went down nicely, washed down with a nice cup of tea.”

Poulter may have liked the taste of his dinner but he was not quite so enamoured with the changes made to the layout by course re-designer Ernie Els.

“Shooting 68 on this course is a decent start to the week,” said the world number 14. “I’m not the biggest fan and I haven’t played very well around this course (in the past).

“I have got to work hard with my brain more than anything else. If I can override my brain and play good golf, hopefully I can get a result.”

Poulter was full of praise though for the performance of Donald, the player he beat 2 & 1 in Sunday’s World Match Play final in Spain.

“That was a great round of golf today on a difficult golf course,” he said of his fellow Englishman.

“I guess when he teed off there wasn’t quite as much wind as there was later but he would have played in some wind, certainly.”