We have grown used to the sight of a man wearing a red shirt leading the way as a major championship nears its conclusion, but it must have been a few years - perhaps going back to the early 1970s - since the man at the top of the leaderboard on the final day was wearing pastel pink trousers. Ian Poulter’s attire has been more restrained this year than previously (remember those Union Jack trousers?), but his golf has been more eye-catching. There may be a lesson in that.

In seven previous Open Championships, Poulter’s best finish was eleventh, in 2005, eight strokes behind the winner, Tiger Woods. Poulter wore a pair of purple trousers that year with the Claret Jug picked out in silver on the side, prompting Severiano Ballesteros to observe that it was the closest Poulter would ever get to the famous trophy. Perhaps now, after a final round of 69 that pushed Poulter up to second place, people may take the 32-year-old Englishman more seriously.

Poulter started the day in ninth place, six strokes behind Greg Norman, but he knew that the windy conditions would open up the field. Poulter said: “I thought that if I could keep hitting good shots, keep giving myself chances and rolling a few putts in, it could turn around pretty quickly.” Even though he bogeyed two of the first three holes, Poulter remained in the hunt and he would drop no more strokes. At the par-four 9th he almost holed his second shot and made a birdie. He hit another excellent approach at the 11th to set up a second birdie, from four feet.

Although he missed from short range at the 13th and failed to birdie the par-five 15th after being just off the green in two, the rest of the field were leaking shots and Poulter claimed a share of the lead on the 16th after a superbly judged putt of almost 20 feet. The ball moved in slightly off the left, halted for an agonising split-second on the precipice of the hole and then, to the crowd’s immense joy, decided to topple in. “It was a good putt,” was Poulter’s understated reaction. “It was the same putt I had practised for six hours on Monday.” Poulter did not birdie the par-five 17th, despite finding the green in two, his fourth stroke striking the lip of the hole, but he redeemed his round at the last with another 20-foot putt for par after underclubbing his approach and making a mess of a chip.

Expert View

If the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, the Open was won on the practice ground at Largs

John Hopkins

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Background

• Harrington joins the list of Open greats

• Two strokes of genius, one happy man

• Champion shows mettle with defining shots

• Losing proves a habit for Norman

Background

• Harrington's Open battle won in Largs

• Poulter more than mouth and trousers

• No losers at windswept Birkdale

• Test of skills for which few were equipped

Background

• Westwood diverts blame for missed opportunity

• Wood emerges among the elite

Related Links

• Eason at large: Royal Birkdale - heaven or hell?

• Ian Poulter passes his test of character

Multimedia

• Where the Open was won and lost

“I’d have taken one under par at the start of play,” Poulter said after returning from the practice ground when he saw that Padraig Harrington had eagled the 17th. “I should have made a couple more putts, but hats off to Padraig.”

In his 21 previous majors, Poulter’s best effort was tied for ninth at the US PGA Championship in 2006, hardly the sort of record to back up his assertion earlier in the year that when he played at his full potential “it will be just me and Tiger”. Yet while Poulter can sound big for his boots, where were some of the other British challengers given the chance to take advantage of Woods’s absence? Justin Rose was 70th, Lee Westwood 67th and Colin Montgomerie 58th.

Instead, it was some of the less heralded home golfers who stood out. Alas for Simon Wakefield and Ross Fisher, their challenge fell apart at the end. Wakefield was seven over par with nine holes to play, but had a triple-bogey eight on the 17th, while Fisher ran up a quadruple-bogey eight on the last hole, plunging him from eighth to 39th and costing him about £80,000.

Paul Casey and David Howell, who were 35th and 65th respectively at the start of their final rounds, managed to reach the top ten. That they each made an eagle [at the 15th for Casey and the 17th for Howell] helped.

The £450,000 Poulter won lifted him from 77th on the European Tour Order of Merit to twelfth and moved him to the same position in the Ryder Cup qualification list. “I really want to make the side and I’ve certainly put myself back in the picture for the Ryder Cup,” Poulter said. “Let’s hope this springs me on for a massive push in the next few weeks. There’s plenty more in me."