Thursday 13 July 2017 18:32, UK
Ian Poulter saw his pre-tournament preparation pay off with an encouraging start to the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
The Englishman struck five birdies in a flawless display at Dundonald Links to post a five-under 67 and grab a share of the morning clubhouse lead with Rickie Fowler, Callum Shinkwin and Andrew Dodt.
Poulter finished tied-42nd at last week's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and has been fine-tuning his game ahead of the latest Rolex Series event, with the world No 85. pleased to see signs of progress.
"I'm pretty happy," Poulter said. "The last couple of days I don't feel like I've hit it all that well, so I spent a bit of time yesterday on the range with Pete [Cowen].
"I got myself in a couple of spots of bother, but pretty much swung it well, put it in position and made a few putts and it adds up to a nice score."
"Still need to work on the game. As good as the round was today, I'm still going to hit the range. I'm still not 100 per cent happy, and it's a work-in-progress. So I'll keep working towards the ultimate goal."
Fowler, playing alongside top seed Rory McIlroy and Open champion Henrik Stenson, also signed for a blemish-free card after following a hat-trick of birdies from the third with back-to-back gains from the 13th.
"I felt like I did a good job of hitting fairways today, staying on the right side of the hole and made a couple of birdies," Fowler said. "It's always nice to have a clean card.
"I'm happy about it and looking forward to cleaning things up a little bit swing-wise and making sure that we continue to improve through the week and get ourselves in contention here and ready for next week."
Watch the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live coverage begins on Friday from 10.30am.
