Ian Poulter Set For Senior Major Debut

Ian Poulter at LIV Golf Andalucia — Ian Poulter will play in the US Senior Open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

LIV Golfer Ian Poulter will make his senior Major debut at the 2026 US Senior Open.

The Majesticks GC co-captain confirmed the news on his Instagram stories, where he posted an image of his official invitation to the event, which will be held at Scioto Country Club between July 2nd and 5th.

The Englishman, who became eligible for the event when he turned 50 on 10th January, added the caption: “When you know you're getting old.”

When Poulter tees it up at the Ohio tournament, he will follow in the footsteps of fellow LIV Golfers, compatriots Richard Bland and Lee Westwood, who have also played in the Major.

Bland played in the 2024 tournament at Newport Country Club, and it capped a monumental introductory year to seniors competition for him, when he followed up victory at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship with his second title in just over a month, beating Hiroyuki Fujita in a playoff.

Richard Bland with the US Senior Open trophy — Ian Poulter's fellow LIV Golfer Richard Bland won two years ago

Westwood, who is also a co-captain of Majesticks GC, made his US Senior Open debut in 2024, too, placing in a tie for 31st.

The current champion is Padraig Harrington, who beat Stewart Cink by one at Broadmoor Golf Club last June.

Now Poulter has turned 50, it could open the door to other senior Major appearances, although one he doesn’t look like playing in any time soon is the Senior Open, because it’s co-owned by the DP World Tour, which he resigned from in 2023. That’s a situation that also applies to Bland and Westwood.

In 2024, Poulter also confirmed he isn't planning to pay fines incurred from the DP World Tour for playing for LIV Golf, which he would need to do to rejoin the circuit and become eligible.

He told Sports Illustrated’s Matt Vincenzi, “I personally wouldn’t pay because I felt it was unjust at the time to be fined $100,000 a week because it makes no sense to me at all.

“My stance has never changed. I’ve played golf all over the world. I was never paying fines by Europe for when I played outside of Europe on other tours around the world so my stance still today is exactly the same stance as I had three years ago.”

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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