Poulter: Death To America...Golf

Lawrence Donegan reports on Ian Poulter's lively pre-Open comments about the state of American golf.

"The American guys who have won all the tournaments over the past few years are getting older," said the world No8. "Phil [Mickelson] is 40 – can he do what Vijay [Singh] did in his 40s? He's strong enough; it's whether he is hungry enough, I guess.

"The talent [in America] to replace them is very young and needs a bit more experience, so we have a 15-year window. The Americans have a gap and that gap is being filled by European guys right now, guys who are in their late 20s, early 30s and who are doing the job right now.

"In five years' time we should have taken a few majors. I don't want to put a number on it but the [English] guys that are in the top 40 in the world are all capable of winning them. It's for us to go out there and prove it but we can certainly win one or two a year, for sure."