Ian Poulter Bizarrely Announces He Isn't Playing In The Masters Before Rattling Off His Achievements

Ian Poulter is not eligible to compete in the 2024 Masters having not met any eligibility requirements or receiving a special invite. Despite that being well-known, easy-to-find information, the Englishman felt the need to announce to the world he wouldn't be teeing it up at Augusta National later this month.

Poulter recently made a trip to Augusta National after receiving an invitation from an unnamed member. Maybe that caused some sort of confusion regarding his eligibility status for the year's first major, so, he decided to make it clear he wouldn't be playing in this year's Masters via a post to his Instagram stories.

To say the Instagram story was a public display of patting oneself on the back would be an understatement.

"Also for clarity, I will not be playing the Masters this year," Poulter's post began. "I was invited to play by a member and it was in incredible condition. I last played the tournament in 2021 and that will be my last competitive Masters."

Now, most people would leave it at that. Announcing that the 2021 Masters was your last is an emphatic way to close a statement. 

Poulter, of course, didn't leave it at that, he saw this as an opportunity to remind everyone how well he's played at Augusta National over the years.

"I had a chance in 2019 and came up short. I have no regrets at all. I had nine Top 25 finishes in the 16 I played. Only missed the cut once. It's truly a special place," he concluded.

Poulter's numbers do check out, he's had quite a run at Augusta over the years and played his way into contention on four separate occasions including a T-6 finish in 2015.

That doesn't make his note about not playing in this year's tournament and signing off with a touch of narcissism any less weird.

Poulter did not play in a major championship in 2023 and currently ranks 470th in the world as that number keeps climbing in the wrong direction given that he took his talents to LIV Golf.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.