Ian Poulter says he’s not to blame for slow-play warnings at the Masters

Ian Poulter may have run out of gas in his marathon efforts to qualify for the Masters but he contended he was the sprinter in his second-round grouping that officials put on the clock for slow play twice on Friday.

Poulter, who played his butt off to win the Houston Open in a playoff and grab the last spot in the Masters, told reporters that his four rounds last week at the Golf Club of Houston tired him out so much he got to Augusta not at all ready for the men’s first major of the season. He would not, however, shoulder the blame for the glacial pace of play that earned his threesome two warnings.

“I think as a group we were slow, but I’m not going to say the reasons why we were slow. I’m going to say ‘we.’ Let me just generalize and say ‘we,’” Poulter said about his slog around Augusta in the company of 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman and Patrick Cantlay, starting just his second Masters. Both players missed the cut.

“I’m quite happy to be on the clock every hole of my life, it doesn’t affect me. We have to be on the clock. We were too slow. When you’re too slow, you need to speed up. End of conversation,” added Poulter, who claimed the warnings were “never going to affect my golf, so I’m fine. And I know I’m quick enough. That’s all I’m saying.”

For sure, Poulter’s group was not the only one crawling around the course on a blustery day, not when it took almost six hours for some to finish.

Poulter, who squeaked into the weekend right on the cut line (5-over) and gets Tiger Woods (4-over) on Saturday, said he expected to be exhausted after what it took for him to prevail in Houston.

“I was always going to be fatigued,” he told the Telegraph. “I am never going to be fresh coming into this week. I am underprepared. I didn’t get many holes in.”

Woods and Poulter were scheduled to start their round at 10:40 a.m. ET.