IAN POULTER believes there's a simple reason he is a Ryder Cup legend - he enjoys beating Americans!

Poulter will be making his seventh appearance at Whistling Straits for Europe, and he is looking for his sixth win.

According to the 45-year-old Englishman, winning is never boring. He also doesn't mind getting under the skin of his opponent.

He smiled and said, "I'm sure that I've bothered many of my opponents." My winning percentage has been very nice for me and not for the men I've played with.

"So, I can imagine that it's been quite frustrating to be the one on the other end of this. It feels good, however.

"I love holing putts, and winning matches. It's been an amazing ride. It's not something I will ever regret. This is how match play should be done.

Poulter was the inspiration for the 2012 Miracle at Medinah, with his five-birdies-in-a row blitz. He also won five of the six Ryder Cup singles matches and won the other half.

His record is only six losses in 22 matches. He admits that he still regrets the one defeat in European colors, which he suffered at Valhalla 2008 in 2008.

Poulter couldn't have done more to avoid this setback. At Valhalla, he won four out of four points.

He said, "That was awful." It didn't matter that I got four points that week.

"To achieve personal success, these weeks should not be about you at all. It is about zip

"To lose 4-0 is quite depressing. It's better to win 0-4 than lose. If I had to play it that way, I would still be happy Sunday night.

Captain Padraig Harrington knew that his decision to outfit his team as cheeseheads was a huge success.

The European team was seen milking the applause at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, where they were able to take in the first tee. This is the state that produces most of America's cheese.

Europe's top stars wore the triangular hats that Green Bay Packers fans made famous. Harrington said he has been working on ideas to win over local fans for 18 months.

The European players donned green caps and beanies after they had thrown the hats around the first tee. Their practice outfits also featured green sleeves.

Harrington admitted that it was part of a charm offensive in an effort to win over spectators.

He stated, "Look, the crowds can be great. As you would see on the first tee, everyone embraced it.

"When we were making the clothes, 18 months ago, designers talked about possibly bringing in some Irish colors for me.

"I don't really like that kind of stuff so I came up the idea why not we do something with Wisconsin.

"Obviously, the Green Bay Packers fit in with the Irish theme. When we approached them about it, they were really open to the idea and even supplied the cheeseheads."

Harrington was asked if he ever imagined that being a European captain would mean joining his players to throw foam cheese hats in the crowd.

He laughed and said, "I suppose not. He laughed: "I suppose not. It's not at all.

"The serious business begins on Friday, but for the moment, the players are having fun and enjoying it."

"Everybody is here to have fun with the crowds. That's undisputed.

"It's a nod towards Wisconsin and obviously Green Bay that this has been done, that we have gone with the colours. The cheeseheads are a lot of fun, as is throwing things up there.

"We can't sign autographs with Covid this week, which is something we used to do.

"So these fans came out and they've come out cold. We want to show them that we are worthy of their attention.

"It worked well for all parties. Now I am a life-long fan. I will say this: I used to be a New England Patriots fan, but I am now a Green Bay Packers fan. I have changed my allegiance slightly."