Casey back in Euro zone
EUROPE have been handed a boost with Paul Casey ending his Ryder Cup exile and setting his sights on making Thomas Bjorn’s team for Paris 2018.
The world No15, who was unbeaten in the last of his three appearances in 2008 and has matured into a serial contender on the PGA Tour, last night announced his intention to rejoin the European Tour with the aim of taking on the Americans next September.
The Arizona-based Englishman will play his return event in January at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
“I have missed it too much,” said Casey, above. “I have missed my contribution to British golf, to Europe and watching the Ryder Cup, not being a part of that. My Ryder Cup experiences have been the highlight of my career and being a part of the European Tour puts me in line to hopefully, possibly, play another Ryder Cup, which I would dearly love to do. “I feel like with the golf I’ve played over the last few years that I can be a massive contribution on the golf course. But I think what excites me more is the role I feel I can play supporting the young guys.” The 40-year-old turned his back on Europe after missing out on a wildcard in 2010 but insisted it was family decision. “What happened in 2010 had no effect on that decision. It’s a great theory but it’s rubbish,” he said. “It’s just I struggled to play both tours. I had a new priority – my family.” LEWIS HAMILTON was denied the win he wanted to seal his fourth world title but his status as Britain’s greatest Formula One driver was sealed last night.
The Mercedes driver’s hopes of a victory were ended after a crazy first-lap collision with Sebastian Vettel.
As Mexicans celebrated their Day of the Dead, it was the last rites that were read over the German’s challenge as he smacked into Hamilton’s tyre with the race just a few corners old.
Hamilton furiously questioned Vettel’s motives as he suffered the ignominy of being crowned champion after being lapped, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cruised to victory.
But if it was a deliberate act straight out of compatriot Michael Schumacher’s copybook, tactic did not work.
In reality, the collision just summed up Vettel’s and Ferrari’s collapse in what Sir Alex Ferguson dubbed squeaky bum the
The collision just summed up Vettel’s collapse
time just when they needed steady nerves and a bullet-proof car.
The incident left Vettel, below, needing to charge through the field to finish at least second – and hoping Hamilton finished 10th or lower – to prolong the title battle.
But the four-time champion could only come home fourth while Hamilton battled back in the later stages after struggling to finish ninth after a late, thrilling scrap with his old McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.
That gave him an unassailable points lead with just the races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi left.
So 44 years after walking away from the grid having won his third drivers’ crown, Sir Jackie Stewart finally saw his record beaten.
Hamilton could arguably claim to have been Britain’s best even before he took the grid yesterday, having racked up 62 wins in his career compared to the Scotsman’s 27.
With a commanding 66-point lead, the Hertfordshire-born racer had only needed to finish fifth to secure the crown even if Vettel won the race. But the LEWIS HAMILTON’S fourth Formula One drivers’ crown confirmed his status as the finest driver of his generation but where does it leave him among the all-time greats?
The Briton is now level with Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost, with only Juan Manuel Fangio, on five, and Michael Schumacher, on seven titles, ahead of him.
With Hamilton set to sign a three-year, £120million extension to his Mercedes contract, he could equal or even beat Schumacher’s record before he retires.
Yet, there are some who would argue that Hamilton would struggle to make the top three in the list of Britain’s all-time greats, let alone a world ranking.
Three-time champion Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, who won two titles in the Sixties, and Stirling Moss, regarded as the greatest driver never to have won