‘I had a great reception’ – Ian Poulter booed on first tee at St Andrews, recovers to make monster eagle putt

Ian Poulter had a mixed opening day to the 150th Open Championship, as he was booed on the first tee and later holed a monster eagle putt.

But Poulter was one of four players to launch a legal challenge which enabled him to play in last week’s Scottish Open.

When he was introduced to the crowd, there were boos mixed in with polite applause.

Poulter suggested he did not hear any negative reaction.

“Didn’t hear one,” Poulter said when asked about the boos. “I actually thought I had a great reception on the first tee, to be honest. All I heard was clapping.

“I have heard not one heckle. In three weeks, I’ve heard nothing. What have you heard?”

Poulter continued to be questioned about the negativity and provided a spiky response.

“You walked 18 holes. Not one noise. You lot can write whatever you like about being heckled and booing.

“You’ve walked 18 holes. Did you hear one comment? You can write whatever you like.”

Poulter has performed in white-hot atmospheres at Ryder Cups, so it’s not immediately clear whether he was impacted by the negative reception.

His opening tee shot suggested he was, as he duck-hooked the iron and went within inches of going out of bounds on one of the biggest fairways in golf.

Poulter recovered to make a birdie on six, before wowing the crowd with a stunning eagle on nine.

His tee shot was 162 feet from the hole, but it tracked superbly before dropping in the cup.

Commenting on the monster putt, Poulter said: “As flat as that green is and from 150 feet, I kind of hit it two cups out to the right. If you can ever figure a line of two cups to the right, I knew it might wander a hair right to left through the middle of the putt. Look, anything inside six feet from 150 feet is a hell of a putt. So for it to drop is beyond lucky.”

A mix of birdies, bogeys and pars followed – and he completed his round with a birdie on 18 to move to three-under.