Big hitter, little Twitter

Paul Radley

• Last Updated: November 19. 2009 1:16PM UAE / November 19. 2009 9:16AM GMT

Geoff Ogilvy of Australia might be tempted to consider tweeting rival Ian Poulter on the course. Dave Martin / AP

Geoff Ogilvy may be more than €200,000 (Dh1.1million) clear of Ian Poulter in the Race to Dubai money list, as well as having the advantage over him in major titles won, but he is streets behind in one other duel.

The pair are avid users of the social networking site Twitter. And as tweeters go, Poulter could be considered the Tiger Woods to Ogilvy’s Friday afternoon hacker.

“I don’t know where my followers are at,” complained Ogilvy, whose tally of 9,000 followers pales in comparison to more than 800,000 for the Englishman.

“Stewart Cink is up to a million people. He is clearly winning it, but I think Poulter has his eyes on it.

“Cink got in there early enough and it was published in a few national newspapers in the US. Some people are funny to follow, others are boring in what they think other people need to know. Some are interesting to know how they view the world.”

Outside of the four contenders for the Order of Merit title this weekend – Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher – Ogilvy is the best of the rest.

With Paul Casey, ranked fifth in the Race to Dubai, missing because of a shoulder injury, sixth-placed Ogilvy and Oliver Wilson, in seventh, have been paired together.

They are the 27th of the 29 groups teeing up at the Earth Course today, the match-up behind Poulter and Simon Dyson.

Ogilvy has yet to tweet from the course during tournament play, though he might consider posting a message to the group in front over the coming days. “@ianjamespoulter. Any chance of speeding up a bit, Kaymer and Fisher are waiting.”

The Australian, 32, who joined golf’s elite by winning the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot, added: “I’ve [tweeted from the course] in a few pro-ams and a couple of practice rounds. It is a cool deal, but I’m not sure if it will still be the trendy thing to do in a couple of years’ time.”

Both Ogilvy and Poulter will be on the outside looking in at the four-way battle to be crowned European No 1 this weekend, and the Adelaide-born player is backing another member of the Twitterati to take the title home to Ireland.

“Rory has been playing so well the last couple of weeks,” Ogilvy said of McIlroy. “It is big, but Rory is pretty aware of his talent, in a good way. Not many 20-year-olds can handle it, but he has his mind on the bigger picture.

“He would obviously really, really love to win this, but it won’t be life or death for him, which is better for him.

“He is just a wise kid who won’t put anything out of perspective. He has a lot of belief in his golf game and he has played unbelievably well for the past two weeks, especially in the last round in Shanghai.”

Ogilvy, who was speaking at the launch of the limited edition Puma golf shoe featuring the Race to Dubai Skyline, refutes the idea that McIlroy, at just 20 years of age might be cowed by the prospect of standing over what could be a putt for £1.6 million (Dh9.8m) on Sunday.

“They all have a lot to gain and not that much to lose,” he said of the tussle between McIlroy, Westwood, Kaymer and Fisher.

“But, come Sunday, if two or three of them are right there and have a birdie on one hole, or a bogey, which flip-flops the potential result, that will create nerves for anybody.”

pradley@thenational.ae