'I'd Have Had A Heart Attack' - Pat Perez Thanks Ian Poulter For Racing Finish

The American was delighted to get round one finished as darkness fell on TPC Sawgrass

'I'd Have Had A Heart Attack' - Pat Perez Thanks Ian Poulter For Racing Finish
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Golf is an individual game, but on Thursday at The Players Championship, Ian Poulter looked after more than just himself as darkness fell on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. 

With two holes to play, and with the horn to call time on the day's play imminent, the Englishman took it upon himself to race to the finish and ensure his group wouldn't have to return the next day to finish round one. 

And that sacrifice wasn't lost on one of Poulter's playing partners, Pat Perez. Speaking to Golf Digest, the 46-year-old was delighted to be able to put the finishing touches on a two-under 70.

"I'm very excited, I don't think we're going to play tomorrow," Perez said. "It's nice, it's nice. Now I don't have to do s**t tomorrow. It's perfect. Poulter just said I'm running. He's done it before. God bless him."

If you haven't seen it yet, it's well worth watching below:

Back in 2011, Poulter found himself in an almost-identical situation, although he was 11 years younger and perhaps a little lighter on his feet. But both times, upping the pace hasn't seemed to hinder him.

Poulter's crisply struck iron shot to just inside four feet yielded a birdie on the famous par-3 17th, before a closing par saw him round in 73. Perez also negotiated the final two holes in one-under, with the final man in the group, Jhonattan Vegas, notching two pars en route to a three-under 69.

And asked if there was ever a chance Perez, who is the same age as Poulter, would have done the same, he added: "No, I told him, I would have had a heart attack running around the water."

Andrew Wright
Staff Writer

A lifelong golf fan, Andy graduated in 2019 with a degree in Sports Journalism and got his first role in the industry as the Instruction Editor for National Club Golfer. From there, he went on to enjoy a spell freelancing for Stats Perform producing football reports, and then for RacingNews365 covering Formula 1. However, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to get back into the sport he grew up watching and playing and now covers a mixture of equipment, instruction and news for Golf Monthly's website and print title.


Andy took up the game at the age of seven and even harboured ambitions of a career in the professional ranks for a spell. That didn’t pan out, but he still enjoys his weekend golf at Royal Troon and holds a scratch handicap. As a side note, he's made five holes-in-one and could quite possibly be Retief Goosen’s biggest fan.


As well as the above, some of Andy's work has featured on websites such as goal.com, dailyrecord.co.uk, and theopen.com.


What's in Andy's bag?

Driver: Callaway Mavrik Sub-Zero (9°)

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (15°)

Driving iron: Titleist U500 (17°)

Irons: Callaway Apex Pro '19 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50°, 54° and 58°)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider X

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x