Ian Poulter responds brilliantly to vile abuse he received from American fans

This was reprehensible stuff but Ian Poulter did not rise to the bait.... out on the course, at least.

The world's best golfers are up against one hell of a tough course in this year's US Open and it has made so many of them look ordinary. The US Open is notorious for being tough and a four-round total of level par can often put you right in the trophy mix. 2018 at Shinnecock Hills is different and the winner could yet finish at +5 or worse. The cut-line after the first two rounds was +8 and here are the headline names that missed out on the weekend's action:

Jordan Spieth (+9), Tiger Woods (+10), Rory McIlroy (+10), Bubba Watson (+11), Jason Day (+12), Matt Kuchar (+12), Adam Scott (+13), Sergio Garcia (+14), Jon Rahm (+15), and Martin Kaymer (+18).

Four men are tied for the lead at +3 with round two leader Dustin Johnson slipping right back from -4 to +3 after a punishing round of 77. Ian Poulter is four shots back on +7 after carding a 76 that included the awful sight, and sound, of him being relentlessly heckled by straight up idiots in the crowd. The English golfer is often a target for boorish American 'fans' for his rousing role in some classic Ryder Cup matches and he was hounded all day Saturday. https://twitter.com/TweeterAlliss/status/1008117718581735424 Male, American voices could be heard cursing at Poulter before and after shots and cheering when putts failed to drop. He did not respond out on the course and bit his tongue in his post-round chat with Sky Sports, but was not silent for long. The hecklers and the United States Golf Association [USGA] both copped it. https://twitter.com/IanJamesPoulter/status/1008146606884048896 https://twitter.com/IanJamesPoulter/status/1008155254058291200 Poulter sets off with South Africa's Branden Grace at 1:18pm [local time] and one hopes the stewards on the course start removing any idiot that pushes it with the heckling and abuse. As for the other top golfers still plugging away, good God, it was carnage out there. Here are some of the men Shinnecock Hills wormed its' unforgiving ways into. Dustin Johnson: "If I hit it any harder it goes down the f**king hill!" https://twitter.com/TweeterAlliss/status/1008097601378545667 Phil Mickelson goes Happy Gilmore after missing one putt too many for his liking Asked about his decision to run after his missed putt and hit the ball before it rolled off the green, 'Lefty' replied, "Toughen up". https://twitter.com/MrRogers99/status/1008052400144441347 Henrik Stenson.... I tried to warn you The Swede is still in the hunt, at +5, and was all set for an interview on Sky Sports... or so he thought. In recalling the time he cursed last time he was on Sky, Stenson managed to curse again on live TV.

"I cursed... I said f**k on the other one." "Henrik, sorry, we're live. We ARE live. Apologies." "Oh."

Shinnecock Hills has broken so many golfers so far and we've not even got deep into the final round yet. Can't wait for the finalé to this one.