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Paul Casey eyes more contests to keep fit for Race to Dubai

Golfer eager to get back into 'winners circle'

  • By Duane Fonseca, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:01 January 26, 2010
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
  • The Majors are always at the top of the list for me every year. I enter them because I feel I have a chance to win and I like to win, so I need to get back into the winner's circle, Casey says.

Dubai: Paul Casey will aim to play in as many tournaments as he can in 2010 to keep himself sharp for an assault on this year's Race to Dubai title.

One of the front-runners in the hunt for last season's renamed and revamped European Tour's Order of Merit, Casey needed to win the season-ending Dubai World Championship to win the Race.

However, niggles in his wrist forced him to pull out a week before the festivities could begin on Earth at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Despite the injury, Casey won thrice in 2009. He won last year's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and followed that success with victory in the Shell Houston Open in April, which came courtesy of a play-off.

A month later, he won the BMW PGA Championship. However, this season, after having overcome most of the challenges he faced, which include the troublesome wrist, Casey is raring to go and says his focus, like always, will be to do well in the Majors.

"There are the usual goals. The Majors are always at the top of the list for me every year. I enter them because I feel I have a chance to win and I like to win, so I need to get back into the winner's circle," Casey said yesterday at a press conference.

Casey, 32, failed to defend his Abu Dhabi title after finishing with a nine-under-279 after four rounds.

He, however, was happy with his performance in the UAE capital.

"I was wondering what score I'd shoot in Abu Dhabi and I was getting frustrated with 69, so that's a step in the right direction when you're unhappy with three-under-par everyday.

"The guys out there made it look quite easy and I didn't think it was that easy, so I've clearly got to sharpen things up.

"The body doesn't seem to be helping, but I've got to get stuck into it and get back to playing sharp golf, where I can eliminate all the mistakes [made in Abu Dhabi]," he added.

With the Ryder Cup just around the corner, 2010 is a big year for players either side of the Atlantic.

The Race to Dubai upped the stakes last year and nothing is about to change for this season. For Casey though, golf is even more "fun" now because of the Race.

Pressure

"I don't think there's more pressure because of the Race to Dubai; it's only more fun. I think it's changed some guys' schedules and they probably throw in a few more events here. I think what it has done is get many more players playing. It's a good thing especially in this current [financial] climate."

Casey hopes to change the way he's feeling too about his golf and the best possible way forward, according to him, is to compete more often.

"The range is one thing, but I'm a firm believer that you get sharp by being out there and in competition.

"You can practice as much as you want and go to the putting greens, but when you put yourself under pressure that's what gets you really sharp," he said.

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