 Poulter cannot bear to look as his round falls apart |
England's Ian Poulter said his dismal finish to the third round at the Open was like a "kick in the teeth". Poulter, 10 shots off the lead at the start of play, took advantage of the low scoring conditions to reach the 15th tee five under par.
But he double-bogeyed that hole and then bogeyed 16 and 17 to sit on three over going into the final day.
"My lunch is going to taste pretty sour now, I am desperately frustrated," Poulter told BBC Sport.
"I missed a few chances and at five under was thinking I could have been eight or nine under.
"I made one bad swing on 15 - I've struggled with that drive all week - and then my nine iron got caught in the rough and went straight left into a bush.
"It was a snowball effect and I dropped four shots, it was a real kick in the teeth."
Poulter's frustration was exacerbated by the feeling that the early starters would have the best of the weather.
And Poulter says he was reminded of the 2002 Open at Muirfield when the early starters were able to post a good score before driving wind and rain blew the leaders off course.
"I'm pretty frustrated to move through the field as quickly as I did and drop back, knowing it's going to be horrific for the guys this afternoon," he said.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to shoot low."
Henrik Stenson, Europe's leading player in the world, has been fined �500 - twice the minimum - for lashing out in anger and taking a lump out of a tee marker during his second round in the Open at Carnoustie. The Swede, who did not make the cut on Friday at five over, took a swipe at the marker after a wayward tee shot at the eighth, and went on to make a triple bogey.
It is believed Stenson was fined �1,000 at the 2005 European Masters in Switzerland after a member of the players' committee speared a wedge into a green after a bad chip and had to repair the putting surface.
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Highlights: Open Championship day three