Poulter almost skipped TOC, cutting back in 2013

• By Jason Sobel
• Jan 3, 2013 5:01 PM ET

KAPALUA, Hawaii – As most tweets from Ian Poulter’s personal account are, the tweet he posted last Friday came unfiltered and without worry over repercussions.

He tweeted: “Still in full holiday mode. If I go to Kapalua next week it will be on Wednesday getting in Wednesday late afternoon. Not feeling it.”

Six days later, Poulter was on site here at the Plantation Course, competing in the pro-am before Friday’s opening-round start. But the question was still lingering: Just how close did he come to staying home?

“It would have been pretty nice to take 10 weeks off,” he explained. “That’s what it would have been if I didn’t come.”

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Poulter will follow this tournament by taking six weeks off, a strategy also favored by fellow Ryder Cup team members Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell.

He added that one of his main concerns entering the 2013 season is cutting back from the 26 worldwide tournaments that littered his schedule last year.

“It wraps itself around the majors and the WGCs – they are obviously lock-ins,” he said. “I think Wentworth back in the U.K. is probably locked in, The Players – they’re all obvious tournaments. There might be a few extras; there might be a few I’ve never played or haven’t played for a few years and there will be a few that I’ll knock off the schedule.”