PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Ian Poulter wasn't supposed to be here. Wasn't supposed to be at the Players Championship, wasn't supposed to be on the leaderboard and certainly wasn't supposed to be in contention for his first stroke-play victory on U.S. soil.
No, he'd already planned on spending this week "miserable at home" -- until he received the fortuitous news just two weeks ago.
This story has already made the rounds, but it will become the stuff of legend if Poulter can overcome a 3-shot deficit to win on Sunday. The annotated version: Brian Gay nearly lost his PGA Tour card, but instead only failed to make the Players field; once he investigated further, though, he found an inconsistency from the previous points system; when he raised that issue to the PGA Tour, not only did he gain entrance into this tournament, but it offered a stay of execution for Poulter, who'd previously believed he'd lost his card.