Casey eager for Abu Dhabi defence

Abu Dhabi: Two-time winner Paul Casey will be back to defend the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship Falcon Trophy and feels the National Course here is the right place to kick-start his season.

"I am a huge fan of Abu Dhabi. It is an excellent place to kick-start the season. It is all about momentum in golf and you develop it into a wonderful season. With the Majors following soon after I think it is important to get off to a flying start," said the 32-year-old, speaking to the media here from London through a video-conference.

Casey, who first won here in 2007 and then broke a barren run with his second win earlier this year, will feature alongside world No 8 Sergio Garcia of Spain and world No 10 Geoff Ogilvy of Australia.

In reply to a question from Gulf News, Casey said he realised that focusing only on the Majors was a mistake, and added that he would like to repeat his heroics from earlier this year and reignite the momentum that followed after winning the European PGA Tour-sanctioned $2 million event.

"I'm guilty of it. Now I treat every golf event with equal measure. Every event is important for me now. I'm looking forward to the upcoming events and I'm working on shots for next year. Preparation is the key," said Casey, who carded a championship record this year with a brilliant 21-under par to hold off 2008 champion Martin Kaymer of Germany.

"The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, it took some really great golf to win that," he said.

Casey, who is currently No 4 in the world, felt the curse of being 'No 3' could have been responsible for an injury which halted his brilliant year that also saw him win the Shell Houston Open and BMW PGA Championship.

"It seems like the No 3 is a curse because after that I had the injury. For me, I would like to be higher in the rankings but the two guys ahead of me are a bit ahead. In fact Tiger (Woods) is far ahead so I guess it will be a race for the No 2. I need to accumulate points and get back to No 3 and No 2."

Five times Ryder Cup star Garcia, said in a message: "I've been playing pretty consistently over the last year but I know there's more to come. As one of the first events in 2010, everyone looks to the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship to get the ball rolling and build momentum for the long season ahead."

Australian Ogilvy added: "I've already heard a lot about the National Course from many of the other guys that have played there.

"I enjoy a fresh challenge and I'm intrigued to see what all the hype is about," added Ogilvy, who beat Casey earlier in the year to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona..