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By Andrew BothPA SportsTicker Golf Writer
TUCSON, Arizona (Ticker) - It is a waste of time asking IanPoulter how his game matches up against his first-round opponentat the Accenture Match Play Championship.
To put it bluntly, Poulter couldn't give two hoots about hisopponent's strengths and weaknesses, even if that opponent is afellow European.
"I worry about my game, and I feel good right now," Poulter saidas he prepared for Wednesday's opening match against Dane SorenHansen at the World Golf Championships event at Dove Mountain.
Poulter, who ended last year on a high note by winning theDunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan, made headlines at the startof 2008 - but it wasn't his clubs doing the talking.
Instead, it was Poulter's provocative comments in a magazinearticle in which he was quoted saying that if he played hisbest, it was between he and Tiger Woods as to who was the bestin the world.
The controversial quote made things quite interesting Mondaywhen Woods entered the locker room and jokingly asked "No. 2"how he was going.
Actually, Poulter seems to be going just great. He spent lastweek at his club manufacturer's testing facility in southernCalifornia, where golf is reduced very much to a science.
"It's good to see what's happening with your swing, your cluband that ball," the 32-year-old Poulter said. "It's veryinteresting to see how the ball's moving, to make sure yourdriver's right, the spin rate is right. It's easy to tune upyour game in that environment.
"When you've got all the data stacked up for you, it makes iteasy. I found out some very interesting things, stuff to workon. I'm doing a slightly different maneuver with the driver totry to hit it a little further, just a very slight swingchange."
Poulter, who has never backed down in his life, loves matchplay.
"You're under pressure right from the start," he said. "Instroke play, you've got four days to slowly get into contention.In match play, you've got no time to get into contention - youhave to win. It just makes you concentrate harder, which isgreat."
As an added bonus, Poulter has an early tee time on Wednesday,which means he should be done in time to watch his belovedArsenal take on A.C. Milan in the Champions League.
Poulter is part of an eight-man British and 19-player Europeancontingent in the 64-man field, with the U.S. having barely thelargest representation - 20 players.
Poulter and Hansen will face off in one of three all-Europeanshowdowns, with England's Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty doingbattle. Paul Casey faces Swede Robert Karlsson.
Rising German star Martin Kaymer is not only making his WGCdebut, but also playing his first professional tournament in theU.S. Not that Kaymer is a stranger to these parts, havingspent much of the winter practicing in Arizona.
"It feels a little bit like home," said the 23-year-old Kaymer,whose has made a meteoric rise from obscurity to world classstatus in the past 12 months, earning Rookie of the Year statusin Europe last year before capturing the Abu Dhabi Championshipin January.
"Germany is so cold, you don't want to be there (in winter).The facilities here are perfect and I really like the Americanattitude. When I got to the golf course, I said 'I play on theEuropean Tour, is there any chance I can practice here?' Theysaid, 'Of course you can.'"
Kaymer's first match is against self-described American redneckBoo Weekley. They are familiar with each other, having met atthe World Cup in China in November.
In other matches of interest Wednesday, top-seeded Woods meetsfellow American J.B. Holmes, while defending champion HenrikStenson of Sweden takes on Australian Robert Allenby.
If past results are anything to go by, the lower seed will winabout 50 percent of the matches, which is hardly surprisinggiven that every match other than the final is played over only18 holes.
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