Ian Poulter made a humiliating exit from The Open today after finishing 14 over par and then admitted he was relieved the agony was over.

Last year the Englishman was second at Royal Birkdale and a fine run of form meant he arrived here as one of the favourites.

But the 33-year-old followed up a poor opening round of five over par with another shocker as a 79 sealed his exit from the tournament.

Poulter's second day yielded three double bogeys and a solitary birdie at the 17th but despite the bad weather, he took full responsibility for missing the cut.

“I have not played well or hit a golf shot for two days,” he said. “The week has finished, thank God for that.

“I played horrible. It was nothing to do with the conditions. The course was easy yesterday and it was difficult today, but if you don't play any well, then you will not do any good.

“It would not have mattered if I had played a million rounds of golf around here, I would have missed the cut.

“It's disappointing because I wanted to win this tournament after a nice build‑up and playing well in the run-up to the week. But I could have had a set of spades in my bag and still wouldn't have found the middle of the club. You can only laugh. They could have had the pins located in the middle of every single green and it would not have made any difference.

“The problem was me. The course could have been flat and I still would have found a way to muck it up.”

Poulter's playing partner Miguel Angel Jimenez also had a torrid time. The overnight leader started the day on six under but a round of 73 saw his overall score trimmed by three.

The Spaniard was five over after 10 holes but regained his composure with birdies at 12 and 17.

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie was in danger of missing the cut after a round of 74 left him five over.

This week the Ryder Cup skipper has been locked in a row Sandy Lyle, who had called the former European No1 a cheat and a “drama queen”.
When Montgomerie was asked today if the bust-up had affected his game, he replied: “Very much so.”