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The Guardian has a nice article on Ian Poulter following his win at the Match Play Championship and subsequent ascension to #5 in the world golf rankings. There's some great insight from Lee Scarbrow, the club pro who gave Ian his very first shot by hiring him as a club pro even though he didn't appear to be the most gifted young player at first glance. His perception of Ian's game changed quickly after he went out and shot 66-66 to win the first pro event he entered!

The rest, as they say, is history...

Also, check out this archived video with Jeff Rude from Golfweek that includes an extensive tour of Poulter's home and a lesson on proper hair grooming.

Hunter Mahan won the Waste Management Phoenix Open for his second PGA TOUR title Sunday, closing with a second consecutive bogey-free 6-under 65 to come from four strokes down. He becomes the seventh player in the season's first nine events to win wearing FootJoy golf shoes and the second consecutive to win wearing FJ ICON MyJoys. Hunter also relied on a StaSof glove.

The 27-year-old Mahan had an eagle and a pair of birdies in a late four-hole span Sunday to finish at 16-under 268. Since winning the 2007 Travelers Championship, Mahan has continued to improve each year. He played on the 2008 Ryder Cup team and had six top-10s in 2009, including a runner-up finish at the AT&T National.

"It's just finding a way to win. I just haven't been able to do it," he said. "So obviously it feels great to get off the year on my fifth tournament to win. It gives me a lot of confidence in myself that I'm doing the right things in my game, and it feels great, it really does."

The shot of the tournament for Mahan came at the par-5 13th when he hit his second shot from 250 yards to within seven feet and made the eagle putt to reach 14-under par. His 18-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th moved him into the lead and then the clincher came at the notorious 16th, the par 3 surrounded by bleachers filled with noisy, irreverent fans who cheer and boo with equal enthusiasm.

Mahan's tee shot caught the edge of the green and he made the subsequent 14-foot putt to regain the lead at 16 under and he would never look back.

** During the 2010 PGA Tour season, when FJ WINS, YOU WIN. Enter now for your chance to win a pair of FJ ICON golf shoes and a StaSof glove just like Hunter wore during the final round Sunday.

Ian Poulter (FJ ICON MyJoys; SciFlex glove) captured the biggest victory of his career on Sunday by leading the final 28 holes of the championship match to win the all-England final, 4 and 2, at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. In 2010 on the PGA TOUR, when FJ WINS, YOU WIN so enter to win the FJ gear Poulter was wearing on Sunday.

Along with winning his first World Golf Championship, the 34-year-old Poulter won for the first time on American soil. It was his ninth European Tour title and moved him to a career-best No. 5 in the world rankings.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Poulter said, after closing out the match with a par on the 34th hole. “I knew I was in great form. I felt comfortable all day on the golf course.”

A veteran of two Ryder Cup teams (2004, 2008), Poulter is gaining a strong reputation for his prowess in match play, especially after this week. He improved his overall record in the Match Play Championship to 18-7, and was so dominant over the weekend that he trailed for only one hole over the final 50 holes of the tournament. That came early Sunday morning, when his opponent put his approach shot to 7 feet on the second hole for an eagle that was conceded. Poulter answered immediately with a tee shot into 8 feet on the third, then took the lead for good at No. 7.

In fact, five times after his opponent won a hole, Poulter won the next one. Late in the match as he was clinging to a 2-up lead, Poulter flew the green on the par-3 12th, leaving him a tough chip up the slope. He came within inches of holing it, keeping his cushion, until he effectively put the match away at the 15th with another tough pitch, with mud on his ball, up a steep slope to the green.

“I would say my short game, certainly this week, has been as good as it’s ever been,” Poulter said. “The last 12 months, it’s been up there with the best of them.”

The timing couldn’t have been better. A short time later, Poulter was beaming as he posed with the “Walter Hagen Cup,” the name of this WGC trophy. Hagen, along with his 11 majors, was known for his eye-catching attire.

Here's a look at what Ian wore this week, courtesy of pgatour.com and Getty Images.

Bill Haas (FJ ICON style #52054) made a short birdie putt on the 18th hole to earn his first PGA Tour victory at the Bob Hope Classic on Monday, edging fellow FJ players Matt Kuchar (MyJoys) and Bubba Watson (FJ golf shoes, SciFlex glove) by one stroke with a bogey-free 8-under 64. Haas becomes the third consecutive FJ player to win this season, joining Geoff Ogilvy (SBS Championship) and Ryan Palmer (Sony Open).

Haas was the last of the co-leaders to play the 18th, and an outstanding 3-iron approach from 206 yards allowed him to two-putt his way to a 30-under 330 finish. He also birdied the par three 17th hole.

“I’d been wanting to win from the first tournament I played, but it’s a process, and there’s a lot to it,” said Haas. “It’s special, but I don’t know if it’s a monkey off my back. I know how hard it was to win, and I’m grateful.”

After grinding through five rounds on four courses in the rain-delayed tournament, Haas couldn't celebrate until he made it through the last hole with his hands shaking and fingers going numb -- and at that point, he didn't even know his father Jay, the 1988 Hope Classic champion, had made it back from the Champions Tour event in Hawaii to watch him.

“It’s definitely neat that down the road, 22 years from now, we can look at both our names on the list here,” Bill Haas said. “I’m not trying to compare myself to him. He’s almost unreachable.”

Once again, this season on the PGA TOUR, when FJ WINS, YOU WIN! Click here to enter to win a pair of FJ ICON golf shoes just like Bill Haas wore in victory at the Bob Hope Classic.

-- Thanks to European Tour reps Jonathan Loosemore and Guy Smith for this latest update!

The Desert Swing is under way, with the first stop in sunny Abu Dhabi.

5 of the Worlds Top 10 players are in action this week in a stellar field, including FootJoy loyalists Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, SBS Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy and the colourful Swede, Henrik Stenson who has just agreed a multi-year deal to wear FootJoy shoes again. All 4 players will be gracing the fairways in the new FootJoy ICON shoe.

Camillo Villegas and Ian Poulter have also flown over from the US, as they look to grab some early points in the 2010 Race to Dubai.

The new FJ Sport  is also catching a few players eyes. Pablo Larrazabal and Peter Lawrie were both wearing the shoe in practice this week. With it's colourful and athletic styling, it is sure to be a hit with the players on Tour. 

We welcome a new line-up for 2010 to our FJ collar programme, some of the latest additions include last season Rookie-of-the year, Chris Wood, Robert Rock and Irishman Peter Lawrie. Steve Webster and Ricardo Gonzalez continue with the FJ collar for another season.

Players are placing shoe orders at a rapid pace with the FootJoy tour reps, and there are certainly going to be some funky looking shoes gracing the Tournaments across Europe this season thanks to the fantastic MyJoys offering from FootJoy.