Ian Poulter and Jason Dufner are competing in this week’s Volvo China Open. But before the golf tournament gets underway, the European Ryder Cup hero and the reigning PGA champion had another athletic endeavor to tend to.
Poulter and Dufner competed against former table tennis world champions Jan-Ove Waldner, Jörgen Persson and Jiang Jialiang in a series of friendly matches on Tuesday as part of a pre-tournament exhibition. The only catch was that while Poulter and Dufner used conventional paddles, Waldner, Persson and Jialiang used driver heads with handles attached.
It’s unclear who the victors were based on the photo (posted to Poulter’s Twitter account) and video below, but I’d surmise that we, the viewers, are the real winners here.
When golfers meet Table tennis pro's @JasonDufner, JO Waldner, Jörgen Persson,
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) April 22, 2014
Jiang Jialiang, #VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/ym4kyTnk0y