The English are finally delivering, says Ian Poulter

Ian Poulter is proud to be part of English golf's resurgence after beating compatriot Paul Casey to claim the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

The victory at Dove Mountain, Arizona was his first in America and catapulted him to a career-high fifth in the world rankings, sandwiched between Lee Westwood (No4) and Casey. It is a far cry from decade ago when Westwood was the only Englishman in the top 100.

"It's so nice to see [English] guys actually deliver on the golf course," he said. "We've been waiting for a long time. It's about time the guys that have put themselves in position four, five and six in the world should step up to the plate."

Two years ago, Poulter was ridiculed for saying that if he lived up to his potential he was the only golfer capable of challenging Tiger Woods.

The 34-year-old claimed today: "I didn't quite say it was just me and Tiger but I just felt that if I could deliver what I believed I could, then I could put myself in a good situation. I've certainly done that over the last 18 months and I've been able to deliver on that today."

Poulter dominated most of the 36-hole final, trailing for only one hole early before taking the lead for good at the seventh.

He was two-up after 18 holes and never led by less during the second round, eventually winning by 4&2.

"I'm just so happy to finally win on American soil," he said. "I was very comfortable on the course today. I felt in control of my game all week. I don't know if there was any given point where it was going to be my week but I just felt very calm."

Casey lost last year's final to Geoff Ogilvy and despite his disappointment, he paid tribute to the new champion.

"Ian played great stuff," said the 32-year-old. "You're probably going to write Casey played rubbish but you have to realise Ian played excellent golf."