Ian Poulter fans were a little too eager to get their hands on one of his golf balls during the opening round at LIV Golf UK on Friday. And that eagerness cost one of them dearly, as he embarrassingly collapsed a fence and rolled down towards a bunker in front of laughing spectators.

The incident occurred on the ninth hole, when Majesticks GC co-captain Poulter answered the cries of nearby fans and launched his golf ball towards them.

Unfortunately the 48-year-old didn’t put enough power into the throw and it stopped short of the fence they were standing behind. With beers on the table visible in the background, a number of fans stretched and strained to claim the ball for themselves.

It wasn’t long before a small, white fence collapsed under their weight. And while one nimble customer nipped over and grabbed it, two others fell flat on their face, with one particularly unlucky spectator rolling all the way down a slope and stopping just before a greenside bunker.

Ironic cheers erupted from the crowd as the red-faced but smiling fan unsteadily got back to his feet. That was about as good as the day got for Poulter as he posted an underwhelming +1 at the JCB Country Club.

The majority of the field went a long way under par, with round-one leader Jon Rahm sitting pretty at -8 after shooting a superb 63.

Before the event got underway, Poulter was open and honest about the fact he was desperate to open his LIV Golf account on home soil. “I don’t think I’ve delivered the performances in the LIV events that I think I should have done,” he admitted.

“I’m not happy with my play over the last couple of seasons. I think I’m very close. Had one decent round of golf and two OK rounds of golf and played 16 great holes and two poor holes.”

The Brit continued: “It would mean an awful lot… For me, it’s about having the right adrenaline, the right attitude, the right mindset to go out there this week, have fun on the golf course with the fans, enjoy myself. If we are successful this week, this will rank pretty highly, being 48 and a bit.”

Ahead of day two on Saturday; Abraham Ancer, Andy Ogletree, Tyrrell Hatton and Cameron Smith are among those in hot pursuit of Rahm, with Poulter nine shots off the lead.