Poults driven out of Sentosa

Englishman withdraws after failure to secure replacement driver

Last updated: 12th November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Poults driven out of Sentosa

Poulter: stolen driver

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Ian Poulter has withdrawn from this week's Barclays Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club after being unable to obtain a replacement for the driver that was stolen from him in Shanghai.

The Englishman had his driver taken during the HSBC Champions event in China last week and has now been informed by his club manufacturers that a replacement will not be ready until before the end of the second round on Friday.

Subsequently, Poulter has decided to pull out of the tournament in Singapore, admitting he fears putting in a poor display that could cost him valuable ranking points given the high-quality nature of the field.

"I am really gutted," he stated. "I have been thinking about it for four hours and I have decided to withdraw because my new driver will not arrive on time.

"It is disappointing because I did not come all this way not to play. But with so many world ranking points at stake, if I played badly I may have lost ground."

The Singapore Open is the richest national open on the Asian Tour with a total prize fund of $5 million.

Tournament organisers have announced that Anirban Lahiri of India will take Poulter's place in the field.