Ryder Cup 2014: I can handle being a target for the Americans - Ian Poulter

It’s Ian James Poulter time.Europe’s Ryder Cup mascot, the man with the 80 per cent winning record, who has yet to surrender even half a point in the singles, has America in his sights again.

USA skipper Tom Watson said this week that he was targeting Poulter, who has won 11 of his last dozen matches. But those words do not worry the Englishman.

“I’ve put a lot of blue on the board in the past and helped the team over the line, and that’s something I’m very proud of,” said Poulter (right) after bowling into the Gleneagles media suite this morning declaring himself “ready to go.”

“For someone like Tom Watson to pay me that compliment is amazing. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I demand a lot of myself.”

Phil Mickelson’s barb yesterday that Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell are at each other’s throats over a legal battle was dismissed by Poulter. “You need to see how Rory and G-Mac are in the team room,” he said. “They are very comfortable. There’s no animosity in there whatsoever. The guys are good. So I just have to laugh at the comment.”

The Poulter highlights reel should be shown after the watershed. He admits he scares himself when he watches the replays, never mind the kids. American veteran Jim Furyk has expressed his concerns over the desirability of Poulter’s eye-popping celebrations, suggesting they are out of keeping with the golf setting.

Sorry Jim, prepare to be disappointed. “I’m showing my emotion like Seve (Ballesteros, like Ollie (Jose-Maria Olazabal), like Monty (Colin Montgomerie), like Woosie (Ian Woosnam), like (Sam) Torrance, like all the guys through the years that have ever played Ryder Cup.