This could be the year Casey turns dream into reality
Revitalised Englishman’s love for the Masters may finally be requited, he tells James Corrigan
It is not only the 30th anniversary of Sandy Lyle’s Masters glory, but also of Paul Casey’s Augusta love affair. In this of all years, it would be apt if the Englishman donned the Green Jacket for which he is so suited. Casey will never forget sitting in his front room in Weybridge, Surrey, as a 10-year-old watching the continuation of the European takeover of Georgia. It was at that moment when the ambition first crystallised, when the Masters dream took hold.
“It is my first memory, not just of watching golf on the TV, but of watching any sport on the TV, indeed of watching anything on the TV,” Casey said. “I can still see it now, Sandy hitting it into the bunker on the 18th and then hitting that seven-iron and it rolling down the slope before he holed the putt and did that jig.
“The Masters was always on very late at night, so being able to stay up and watch it was just something very, very special. It was this magical attraction, which I fell for, and it helped the Europeans had this great success through that period; Sandy and Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros. The fact I get to play that course I saw on TV as a kid – I’ve never lost that love and that excitement.”
Casey first qualified for Augusta as a 26-year-old in 2004, and it quickly became apparent that here was a young man with a natural affinity for Alister Mackenzie’s treasured layout. He finished sixth, and that remains the best-ever performance by a British debutant.
“I knew all about that stat that Fuzzy Zoeller was the only player to have won on his first Masters appearance, and I was determined to learn as much about the place as I could in a short amount of time,” Casey said.
He cannily arranged to play a practice round with Langer, Ray Floyd and Ben Crenshaw.
“Even if they change a hole now, the essence is still there,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to play with Tiger [Woods] as well, so I’ve seen enough of the wily champions to witness how they’ve got around. I’ve got my blueprint of how to play it.
“Certainly it suits me. I’ve got a high ball-flight and the ability to hit the driver a little bit right to left. I’ve always felt I’m a good lag putter, whether the stats show it or not, I’ve always felt comfortable on really fast greens.”
All the components are in place, and with top sixes in the past three Masters, his results sheet bears witness. However, he has still to be in the teeth of the battle down the stretch, a shortfall Casey
‘It was this magical attraction that I fell for, and it helped the Europeans had great success’
acknowledges. “I don’t know, one round has always seemed to derail me,” he said, reflecting on a third-round 74 in 2015, a secondround 77 in 2016 and a secondround 75 last year.
“I haven’t yet pieced four rounds together there. That’s the immediate challenge.”
This could be the year. Casey broke his four-year drought at the Valspar Championship last month and comes in fancied by those experts who can look past the hype of certain other candidates.
At Tampa Bay, he played the ultimate party pooper, relegating Woods into second with a final round 65. Casey was fearless, tearing through the field with his new approach.
“Golf has changed, and I’m having to reinvent myself,” he said. “When I was young, I played a style of golf that was quite methodical – hit fairways and greens, over and over – but that doesn’t get it done any more. You used to just have to take the lead on Saturday night and hold on for dear life on Sunday.
“I remember winning at the Belfry and shooting level par to hold off Padraig Harrington. That wouldn’t happen now.
“You have to get in or around the lead and then go again in the final round, shoot your lights out. That’s the Tiger effect, right there. The youngsters are doing what he did – going for broke, being super-aggressive. Being 10 under, 15 under every week will earn you a lot of money, but it’s all about the silverware.”
The likes of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas would no doubt agree as, of course, would Woods himself. Casey makes no secret of his admiration for the 14-time major-winner and as much as he has been inspired by the new generation, he is rooting for the redemptive tale.
“It would be brilliant. I’d love to see it,” Casey said. “Rory Mcilroy made me chuckle a little bit, talking about the hoopla surrounding Tiger and how he said it must be something like a half-shot penalty a round.
“I was thinking, ‘You should have seen him the last 18 years’. I actually want Tiger to continue his trajectory. I want him to win if it’s not me. I want those guys, the younger guys like Rory, Justin, Rickie [Fowler] and Spieth, who have never seen him at his best, to experience that.”
Having turned 40 last July, Casey is in the highs of his own comeback. He is clearly reinvigorated, cutting a wildly more positive figure than the character who was struggling outside the world’s top 50 a few years ago.
He made himself ineligible for the last Ryder Cup for exactly the right reasons as he repieced his game and climbed back into the world’s top 20.
Casey has also signed up again for the European cause at exactly the right time.
“I haven’t played in a Ryder Cup since 2008 and I’ve missed it,” he said. “But sometimes, something has to give, and there are no regrets. I think I’ve shown it was the correct decision.
“Life is great, my golf is great, my mindset is great. It’s funny, but with Pollyanna [Woodward, his wife] and with Lexi [their three-year-old son] and Astaria [their six-month old daughter], I just walk through the door and instantly turn off. I couldn’t do that before. When you’re a young pro, golf means everything.
“Don’t get me wrong, the hunger is still there, and the overriding ambition is still to win that major, but that no longer defines who I am.”