Golfer Ian Poulter slams BBC Sports Personality of the Year over the snub of Matt Fitzpatrick

30 December, 2022

Golf superstar Ian Poulter has fired shots at ‘disgusting’ BBC Sports Personality of the Year contest after it sparked major controversy following the slub of US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick. 

Several stars from the world of golf have jumped to Fitzpatrick’s cause and have slammed the BBC, which includes Poulter. In a tweet, the English LIV golfer openly called the awards ‘a joke.’ He went on to add that Fitzpatrick was completely overlooked and even went as far as calling it ‘disgusting.’ 

Poulter said that he was glad that his compatriot did not decide to attend the event in person as it would have been even more of a humiliation.

Quote Tweeting a tweet from the Telegraph’s Golf Correspondent James Corrigan, Poulter wrote:

“BBC Spoty is a joke. Disgusting how @MattFitz94 is completely overlooked. Glad he didn’t waste his time flying over. Team GB won in 2012, & in the hand book Team GB couldn’t win as a Team. That was overturned by the executive panel.”

“BBC told us please fly over for it. Custard Pie.”

Poulter also highlighted the fact that BBC had deemed Team Europe ineligible for the Team of the Year award despite their remarkable Miracle Of Medinah Ryder Cup win a decade ago.

Choosing not to just stop at his own tweets, Poulter even went on to respond directly to BBC’s tweets about the Sports Personality of the Year. Quoting their original tweet, the 46-year-old called the awards ‘a farce.’

“Sorry but complete disregard for @MattFitz94 makes this event a continued farce and joke. I experienced first-hand how much of a joke this was 10 years ago. Promised myself then I’d never waste time attending or watching again,” he wrote on Twitter, continuing to take shots at the BBC.

It must also be mentioned here that this is far from being a recent topic. The snub of golfers at the awards has been a relevant topic of discussion for quite some time.

Interestingly, Poulter was part of Team Europe that was snubbed from the Team of the Year award, despite their Ryder Cup win over the dominant US team. Only Rory McIlroy, a member of the team, appeared on the list of nominees for an award that year. However, he finished 10th on the list.