Pink poser Poulter dressed for business now

Ian Poulter will not be showing up at The Open wearing Union Jack trousers this year. There will be no wacky pair at Carnoustie next week similar to two years ago, featuring the claret jug down one leg and all the names of the winners down the other.

Or last year's, when he looked like he was auditioning to become the rhinestone cowboy.

Instead, the colours will be conservative rather than flamboyant, all golfing convention rather than golf punk.

So what's happened to the game's leading style icon, the pink poser of legend? What's happened is that

Poulter has invested a seven-figure sum in his own clothing line and knows he won't shift many units looking like a fashion victim.

'All the clothes next week will be from my winter collection — nothing outrageous — because that is what is about to appear in pro shops,' he said.

'We need to get established and then, hopefully, we can move on to something more colourful.' From designing the logo in a New Orleans hotel room 14 months ago, Poulter now has 60 accounts. He and his manager own the company outright, eschewing the safer line of hooking up with an established firm and taking royalties.

'It is a gamble, of course, but I didn't want to get to the age of 50 and regret not doing it,' he said.
Poulter was on the practice ground at the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond yesterday — three-yearold Luke Poulter, that is, with dad Ian teeing the ball up for him as he bashed shots past the 50-yard marker.

Poulter Snr said with a grin: 'Luke got the right hump last night when we arrived at the hotel at 8pm and he couldn't hit any balls.' His five-year-old daughter, Aimee, swung it well too, although she appeared to be having much more fun tumbling over dad's rather large golf bag.

As Luke waved his cut-down driver precariously near Ian's head while the balls were being teed up, it looked as if a leading British prospect for The Open was about to be cut down in the most unlikely manner imaginable.

Ian Poulter arrived in Scotland after a threeday trip to the south of France where he played with some toys of his own, including driving a Formula One car at speeds of up to 170 mph.

Now, if Luke will allow him a place on the range, it is time for business as he tries to convert a season of consistently good form into an overdue success.

Mindful of the fact that he once produced gales of mirth for predicting he would win six times in one year and never triumphed once, Poulter said: 'This is the start of an eight-tournament run for me where I've got lofty goals that I am not going to reveal.

'But, suffice to say, if I haven't won at least once during that period, I will be seriously disappointed.'