CATA POULT; GOLF THE USPGA FROM MINNESOTA.

Byline: BRIAN DOOGAN

IAN POULTER provided proof of his character and his capacity to win a Major with a two-underpar 70 to fire him up the leaderboard.

The sassy Englishman - who once claimed if he played to his potential golf's biggest events would be about 'just me and Tiger' - moved to within two shots of the lead midway through the second round at Hazeltine.

Having finished poorly with consecutive bogeys in a level-par first round 72, Poulter picked up three birdies in his opening six holes to go three under.

A couple of mental lapses in the middle of his round cost him a bogey on the 17th and a double bogey on the first but he rallied strongly to make two more birdies on the fifth and sixth before the wind picked up to wreak havoc on the leaders.

"The wind has picked up 15mph from first thing this morning and if it stays that way all day it will be brutal on the players still out there this afternoon," Poulter declared.

"I felt the course was playing easier this morning and I'm very happy to be going back home to sit and watch the rest of it from my armchair.

"I made a mental error on my chip for par at the first hole by trying to play the perfect shot and I made a hash of it really, which is a shame .

"But I'm happy that I got back into it and, even though my score could have been much better, I'm very much in the tournament.

"I played well at the Players Championship in which I finished second and that is regarded unofficially as the fifth major, so I'm confident I can take the next step." US Open champion Lucas Glover posted 70 for a three-underpar total alongside former US PGA and Masters champion Vijay Singh who shot 72 for the clubhouse lead.

European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie stormed off with a second round 78 to miss the cut. Corey Pavin made the cut with a 71 for an even par total and the US captain believes the battles of Bridgestone and Hazeltine between Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington are becoming the perfect prelude to next year's Ryder Cup.

He said: "It was kind of a matchplay situation between Tiger and Padraig last week at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, it could be the same again here at Hazeltine and that's what the Ryder Cup is all about.

"You have to be very mentally tough. You have to really want to beat your opponent and play very hard against him because it's very competitive.

"The timing of how you perform in matchplay is critical. You have so many important shots or putts or chips in a match that you have to come through at those times.

"When you do come through it demoralises your opponent and that is the time you have to be so mentally tough.

"You have a 10-footer for par on the third hole and that could be the most important thing that happens in the whole match .

"These are the types of things that I'll be watching for over the next year to see what guys perform under these circumstances."

CAPTION(S):

ON THE CHARGE Poulter is in contention after a strong round s HANDS ACROSS THE OCEAN Ryder Cup skippers Montgomerie and Pavin