Ian Poulter has admitted that he was relieved to come through a rollercoaster final hole with a bogey which secured him a share of second at the Players Championship.
The Englishman went into the 18th at Sawgrass just two shots adrift of the lead but instead of putting pressure on leader and eventual winner Kim Si-woo, he miscued his second shot into the trees and was forced to take a penalty drop before playing his fourth shot.
However, when a triple-bogey looked his best hope, an almost miraculous shot from the pine straw left him a foot away from the hole and after eventually tapping in for a five, Poulter acknowledged that he had experienced several different emotions during a 10-minute period that could provide significant rewards for the rest of the year.
The 41-year-old is quoted by the Golf Channel as saying: "It was a big shock to the system to hit one of those nasty shanks when I've hit it as good as I have all week.
"The fourth shot was pretty special, from one of the worst shots I've ever hit to one of the very best. It's nice to close it out, it's nice obviously not to compound an error with another one."
Not only did the shot save Poulter approximately $500,000 (£384,000) in prize money, his finishing position has led to him moving up 117 places to 80th in the World Golf Rankings.
Poulter also progressed into 58th spot in the Fedex Cup standings, leaving him well placed to secure his PGA Tour card for at least another 12 months.
Darren Plant
