A couple of Ryder Cup veterans rolled back the years at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday as Ian Poulter made the most of favourable conditions to take the outright lead at Firestone in Ohio, while Tiger Woods was right in the mix at a venue that has treated him so well in the past. The return to form of the pair has been a quite remarkable story as plenty of pundits were questioning whether they had a future in the game barely twelve months ago...
Poulter nearly lost his PGA Tour playing card last year as he plummeted to 210th in the world rankings in April 2017, although he benefited from a new rule involving a medical exemption which took into account the fact he had been suffering with a foot injury. The 41-year-old has taken full advantage of his stay of execution as he has romped up to 32nd in the latest rankings and he is playing his way into Ryder Cup contention.
This year alone, Poulter has racked up four top-tens and claimed a first victory since the WGC HSBC Champions in 2012 with his superb win at the Houston Open in March. He has put himself in a great position to win another WGC event as he shot a brilliant first round 62 to end the day eight-under-par at Firestone, where he has finished in the top-20 in five of his previous ten visits.
Poulter has never finished in the top-ten of this week's WGC event but a big three days in Ohio could propel him right into the automatic selections spots for the European Ryder Cup team - he is currently 10th on the World Points List. Even if the Englishman were to miss out on automatic selection, surely a man with the benefit of five Ryder Cups, eighteen matches and 13 points (including a win percentage of 72.22%) will gain a captain's pick from Thomas Bjorn.
The Ryder Cup record of Tiger Woods can't quite match that of Poulter's as he has appeared at seven Ryder Cups, playing 33 matches and collecting 14.5 points (win percentage of 43.94), although there is an argument that the American is perhaps a more rounded, considered individual who is better suited to team golf nowadays following a tough few years on a personal level.
The struggles of the 42-year-old have been well documented and it is remarkable to think that we were wondering whether he even had a future in the sport twelve months ago. Rewind back to last season and Woods didn't appear at a single event between the Dubai Desert Classic in February through to the Hero World Challenge in December, with his world ranking falling to a barely believable 1,199.
The 14-time major winner has bounced back this year though as three top-tens, including at the recent Open Championship, and a runner-up effort at the Valspar have been followed by an impressive return to Firestone, where he has won on an eye-watering eight occasions previously! This week's course was the scene of his most recent win back in 2013 and he made the most of Thursday's soft greens during a first round that was littered with low scores to sign for a round of 66 - four shots off the leader, Poulter.
The 66 was Woods' best opening round of the season and he signed off by draining a 50-foot putt in sensational style. A strong finish to the week would propel him up from his current position of 20th on the American Ryder Cup rankings, although an automatic pick looks like a big ask with the eight automatic qualifiers for the USA Team to be confirmed at the end of the US PGA Championship on 12th August.
Like Poulter, Woods will be impossible to ignore if he keeps rolling back the years.
