Ian Poulter has a few good reasons to look forward to the Italian Open.
He has won it twice before; he’s having one of his best years since 2012, and while he is there he will add a gleaming custom-made Ferrari to his fleet of 14.
It has been a good year for Poulter, 42, who not so long ago seemed to be headed for the sidelines. The veteran English golfer was about to lose his PGA Tour card last year and along with it his ability to play golf on the American tour. But he managed to play just well enough to maintain his eligibility, helped in part by the extension of a medical exemption because of a painful arthritic toe and a recalculation of Tour points.