Golfer Ian Poulter has skipped this week’s first leg of the Desert Swing to go shopping for an expensive car.

There are people using their smartphones for mobile sports betting and some have been using them to attack Ian Poulter on Twitter to complain about what they see as extravagancies. The Ryder Cup hero has been talking Ferraris and indulging his own passion for fast cars. He’s off to Scottsdale for some practice ahead of the Phoenix Open – but getting there via the classic car auctions.

The wealth of clear envy regarding Ian Poulter’s purchases recently, hit a new high when he bought a new Aston Martin and started bidding on other top-of-the-line cars, including a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale for $2.4 million and a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet, which starts from $4 million.

Golf in all its glory

Poulter started out selling chocolate on a practice range. His journey to the top, through sheer skill and perseverance, is inspiring.

Having finished last year as low as 12th in the World rankings, his aims for 2014 are to earn his qualification for the European Ryder Cup team in double quick time to then focus around winning a Major.

Following in the success of people like Poulter, Mobile arcade games like Slots Golf are bringing the game to a wider audience with potential cash prizes, but the real prizes are in the real game – Rory McIlroy won $2 million in 2011.