Ian Poulter has become entangled in another Twitter spat with a journalist, this time after he was accused of rudely blanking a press officer.
The English golfer, who has come in for plenty of criticism since joining the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour, went back-and-forth online with Sky reporter Jamie Weir.
Their comments were under a blog post by Alistair Tait entitled ‘The European Dis-Union’, and Weir said Poulter was compounding divisions between the tours with his behaviour in recent weeks.
He wrote: ‘And (Poulter) wears LIV-branded clothing when specifically asked not to. And makes snide, petty little remarks about Tour-owned video of himself. And point-blank ignores a DPWT press officer when asked politely if he’ll spare some writers a few minutes.’
His comment about Poulter ignoring a press officer then saw the 46-year-old reply directly underneath.
Poulter said: ‘Oh Jamie… rushing to catch a flight after an hour 30 fog delay. I could see a large gathering of fans who wanted signatures & photos. Or a few journalists to the right. I decided to do autographs and photos for the fans instead of speaking to the journalists. I’d say I chose the right option.’
‘Always nice to sign autographs for the fans, good for you,’ Weird responded. ‘No issue with you not speaking to the press, more the fact you completely blanked the press officer who politely asked you.’
Ian Poulter has become entangled in another Twitter spat with a reporter
The Englishman has come in for plenty of criticism for joining Saudi-backed LIV Golf
Poulter then hit back with: ‘Oh Jamie, it had to be something… just looking for anything to create negativity and divisiveness.. if it wasn’t that I’m sure my color socks would have been offensive to someone somehow somewhere. Keep creating diversity.’
Weir, confused by the socks comment, wrote: ‘Eh?! Socks? What on earth are you banging on about?! Is it that difficult to say “sorry, bit short on time” when someone who works for the Tour politely asks you a question rather than point-blank ignore them? It’s called manners and common decency, Ian.’
Things then seemed to end amicably enough, with Poulter apologising: ‘I hereby apologize to the DWPWorldTour press officer. I’m sorry that I treated you differently to how I normally would. I shouldn’t have stooped that low. I will make sure to treat people the same as I always have with respect. Let’s hope this works both ways moving forward.
Poulter accused the reporter of not being fair and balanced but would not agree to an interview
And Weir wrote back: ‘I’ll pass your apology on to him. Enjoy the week in Chicago. Maybe see you soon. Happy to get your side of the story on camera if you’re able to spare a few minutes.’
But then the spat was then reignited by Poulter, who claimed Weir had the gender of the press officer wrong.
‘It was actually (HER)… if you’d been there you would have seen for yourself instead of second hand news. Not sure our paths will cross soon. But if they do give me a heads up and I will book a manicure instead. Thanks all the same.’
Weir then insisted the press officer was a man.
The pair then both went back-and-forth again, with Weir saying he could not give the fair and balanced story Poulter accused him of avoiding when Poulter himself refused to offer his side of the story.
Poulter has hit the headlines repeatedly over the last few weeks with tensions between LIV Golf defectors and those who have remained on the PGA Tour.
Rex Hoggard, who covers golf for NBC, tweeted about him ignoring PGA European Tour CEO Keith Pelly’s request to not wear LIV gear at Wentworth.
The bizarre reply went: ‘Rex, Sorry Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has passed away. And you can’t help yourself and continue to throw pettiness out to the world.
The Englishman is staunchly defending his decision to play in the lucrative new set-up
Poulter previously engaged in another row about LIV golf with an NBC reporter, telling him to ‘show some RESPECT in these sad times,’ referring to the death of Queen Elizabeth II
‘Show some RESPECT in these sad times. Give yourself a day off. #RIP Elizabeth. Just for clarification this is not my LIV gear,’ he added. Poulter has now deleted the tweet from social media.
The tense exchange followed his apparent spat with Billy Horschel.
The American had called out Poulter among several LIV Golf Invitational Series members by name ahead of the tournament in Wentworth, clearly upset that they’re allowed to compete in the DP World Tour after joining the controversial Saudi Arabian-backed venture.
National Club Golfer’s George Cooper, who witnessed the encounter, said: ‘While they were too far away to make out what was being said – and my lip reading skills just aren’t what they used to be – it certainly didn’t look like a friendly catch-up.
‘I asked Poulter for a comment afterwards, but he [politely] declined.’
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