ORLANDO, Fla. – Ian Poulter is usually very intentional about his fashion on the golf course. He was especially so on Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Poulter wore a variation of blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, in support of the European nation that is currently the target of a full-scale assault by Russia, an invasion that began Feb. 24 and has already caused nearly 10,000 casualties, according to Reuters.
“I think it’s hard, when you flick the news on right now and obviously you see the devastation that’s going on around the world and you feel for the people in Ukraine, just wearing a similar color today in respect to those suffering over there is the least I can do,” Poulter said. “Just everyone’s probably thinking of all those families that are affected right now.”
Full-field scores from the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Poulter shot 4-under 68, his best opening round at Bay Hill since 2015, though he was more solemn than expected considering his low score, which was just three shots behind Rory McIlroy’s leading 65.
‘It just seems like every time you think there’s light at the end of the tunnel, something else comes along,” Poulter said. “It brings it into perspective pretty quickly. We just play a silly game of golf while others are in the world suffering.”