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The Loop

Mr. Style on Poulter: He's done his homework

April 10, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Golf Digest's Marty Hackel, aka "Mr. Style" has been close with Masters co-leader Ian Poulter from early in his pro career, even having dinner with the Englishman Friday night, after Poulter's second-round 68 pulled him even with countryman Lee Westwood heading into Saturday. Here's what Hackel had to say about Poulter's mindset heading into the weekend:

Ian and I became close for a fairly obvious reason: our interest in fashion. People begin hanging out together because of a shared passion. And along with the fact that he's a great golfer, Ian actually has a lot of design talent, which shows in the design business he's working hard to get off the ground.

We had dinner at the NetJets annual dinner on Friday. He's been going to that event for a number of years, and if ever there was a year to skip it, you'd think it'd be the night he finds himself sleeping on the Masters lead. But Ian not only went,  he was totally relaxed. Jim Furyk was also there after missing the cut, and you could tell he was finally allowing himself to relax now that his week was over. Ian was the same way, and he obviously had a much different weekend ahead of him. That shows he feels he's done his homework.

We had done a photo shoot a few weeks ago in Orlando, the week of Bay Hill, and Ian was actually far more nervous for that. He was so concerned that one of the articles of clothing he was wearing wasn't the finished sample. Then he showed up 20 minute late because he thought he could iron his clothes better than I could steam them.

That's the type of guy he is -- very precise, very organized. That translates to his golf because he's an extremely hard worker. He'll be the first to tell you he doesn't have the same talent as some of the other guys at his level, but he's worked so hard in a relatively short period of time to get himself where he is.

Most people know of Ian from his appearance -- spiked hair, flashy clothes. They immediately think flamboyant. But he's also very grounded with his family. He's a very involved father. He gets as much a kick playing with his kids as he does fooling around in fashion."

-- Marty Hackel