LIV Golf star Ian Poulter escapes golf to spend time with Lando Norris at the 2024 Silverstone Grand Prix
In between LIV Golf events, star golfer Ian Poulter spent some time taking in a few other sports. He spent the weekend watching soccer and racing, even getting in a photo with F1 superstar Lando Norris at the Silverstone Grand Prix.
It also appears that Poulter, based on the jerseys worn in the other photo, was at the England match with Switzerland in the Euros. The 2024 tournament has seen a few incredible games from the Three Lions, including the game Poulter was at.
A one-one draw forced penalties and the English squad buried Switzerland by making all five shots. They move on to face the Netherlands in the semifinal, and the golfer will presumably be cheering them on since that is his home nation.
Poulter moved to LIV Golf partially for the chance to have a less demanding schedule, and that schedule allowed him some time off to travel and spend time with his family.
Ian Poulter didn't try to qualify for Open Championship
Ian Poulter didn't go to Open Championship qualifying, instead opting to go to Switzerland to spend time with his family and experience other sporting events. This was a conscious choice, as the LIV star knew he likely wouldn't get into the Major tournament without doing so.
He knows he's not an automatic qualifier but chose not to pursue the other methods of qualification anyway. LIV Golf players have several avenues of qualification, but the main one is via OWGR points. Poulter hasn't ranked high enough to qualify that way in a long while. Via GolfWRX, he said:
“My world ranking is not high enough to get into The Open Championship. I had the ability to go and qualify and I didn’t. I was on holiday with the family in Switzerland instead."
Despite missing out on something prestigious, he doesn't view it as a loss. In fact, he believes this is an advantage of the LIV schedule and format:
“That is what LIV Golf has given me, a bit more family time. I still have got a busy schedule with LIV playing 14 tournaments.”
This is the eighth straight Major that Ian Poulter will not play in. But he isn't very bothered by that and will tee it up at LIV Golf Andalucia next. His LIV teammate Lee Westwood also turned down the chance to qualify.
However, Henrik Stenson, another member of Majesticks GC, did take the chance and is in the field. Abraham Ancer, Spencer Horsfield, Stenson, Bryson DeChambeu, Tyrrell Hatton, Brooks Kopek, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Andy Ogletree and Adrian Meronk from LIV will also be at Royal Troon later this month.