Poulter hopes to extend good form

Abu Dhabi: A five-week break has recharged Englishman Ian Poulter and the World No 12 is looking to extend his impressive run, which saw him register four top 10 finishes in his last five events last year, including a win at the Barclays Singapore Open.

"I finished the year pretty good. Seven weeks on the bounce… 32,000 miles of flying I think was an awful lot to do. So it was good to recharge the batteries and put the clubs down," said Poulter, who has had two solid displays here in Abu Dhabi in previous editions.

"The weather hasn't been great in Orlando, so I've probably not done as much practice as I would have liked to, however I'm hitting fine and I'm looking forward to these two weeks in the warmer desert," Poulter said at a media briefing in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

"I'm looking forward to getting out there and I think it [National Course] lends itself to people who have got some imagination with the short game."

Early win

Commenting on his seven-week roll, Poulter said: "I think those seven weeks worked out very well. Getting a win early in those seven weeks was great. Great to put some Ryder Cup points on the board."

"My goals for this year is to make sure I'm in the Ryder Cup side and I feel I should be contending in those Majors, which is a big factor. I'll be working hard to be prepared so I can come out as strong as I possibly can," he added.

Praising the Tour events here, Poulter said: "We are getting more and more tournaments over here, so we are seeing more players coming over to play golf, which shows how strong the emirates are in attracting people. It's growing, the golf courses are growing and the place is growing and that's why people are coming. It's a great place to play golf; the weather is great and people just love coming here. We also get looked after really, really well."