A member of the Poulter family already has a victory in 2014, though it’s probably not the one you envisioned.
Luke James, 9, won his age division at the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation’s Orlando Local Tour Championship on Sunday. The 9-year-old shot a nine-hole score of 4-over 40 to win by seven shots at Disney’s Palm Course, which also gave him the Order of Merit title.
After a bogey on the opening par 5, Poulter rebounded with a birdie on the 110-yard third hole. Though he took a triple bogey on No. 6, he closed his round with three consecutive pars to seal the win.
Of course, there are plenty of Tour pros with talented offspring. What made Little Poults’ victory unique was that his famous dad caddied for him and live-tweeted the event to his nearly 1.6 million followers.
Here is a sampling of his best tweets:
And there he is with his trophy. I think he might sleep with it tonight. Luke's big day 🏆 http://t.co/v28KIlxzr6
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 5, 2014
So amazing to caddy for Luke today. So very proud of how he conducted himself even on a disappointing hole. Very exciting.
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 5, 2014
So proud of Luke he actually gave a little speech as well after his victory. Must have been emotional he fell asleep in the car. Tough day.
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 6, 2014