Paul Casey

Paul Casey
Personal information
Full name Paul Alexander Casey
Born (1977-07-21) 21 July 1977
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality  England
Residence Weybridge, Surrey, England
Scottsdale, Arizona, US
Spouse
Jocelyn Hefner (m. 2008–2011)

Career
College Arizona State University
Turned professional 2000
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 2005)
European Tour (joined 2001)
Professional wins 18
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 2
European Tour 13
Asian Tour 2
Other 3
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T4: 2016
U.S. Open T10: 2007
The Open Championship T3: 2010
PGA Championship T10: 2016
Achievements and awards
European Tour
Player of the Year
2006
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
2001

Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of the US-based PGA Tour. In 2009 he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Ranking.[1][2]

Early and personal life

Casey was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but moved with his family to Weybridge, Surrey at the age of six. After attending Cleves School, Weybridge and then Hampton School, west London, he studied A levels at Strode's College, Egham, Surrey. He then took a golf scholarship at Arizona State University.

In 2008, he married Jocelyn Hefner, a distant cousin of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The couple lived a quiet life on a remote ranch in rural Arizona, where keen amateur horse woman Jocelyn competed in local equestrian events. But after she abandoned an interior design course in 2011, the couple agreed to divorce.[3]

After they met at the Formula 1 Chequered Flag Ball at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Casey started dating television presenter Pollyanna Woodward.[4] The couple got engaged during the Christmas period in 2013.[4] Soon after, they welcomed their first son, Lex, on September 1, 2014. They married January 2015.

Career

His amateur career was distinguished. In the US he won three consecutive Pac-12 Championships (1998, 1999 and 2000). In 2000 he broke the championship scoring record held by Tiger Woods (18 under par) with a 23 under par 265. Back on the other side of the Atlantic he won the English Amateur in 1999 and 2000. He was also a member of Great Britain and Ireland's winning 1999 Walker Cup team, where he was only the third player in 77 years to record four victories without a single defeat.

Casey joined the European Tour in May 2001 and recorded a second in his fifth event and a win in his eleventh, the Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship, ending that season 22nd on the order of merit and collecting the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. After a disappointing second season he won the ANZ Championship and the Benson and Hedges International Open in 2003, and came sixth on the Order of Merit.

Casey did not win any individual titles in 2004, but he was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and also won the WGC-World Cup for England in partnership with Luke Donald. Another highlight of his year was a sixth-place finish in his first Masters. He joined the PGA Tour shortly afterwards as a Special Temporary Member and his membership of the 2004 European Ryder Cup Team qualified him for membership of the US based tour for the 2005 season. However he continues to play mainly in Europe, and was the leader of the European Tour Order of Merit in 2006, until Pádraig Harrington overtook him in the final event. He re-joined the PGA Tour in 2009.

Casey has featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and was the highest ranked Englishman for a time. In January 2007 he reached a career high of No. 13 in the rankings.[5]

In 2006, Casey won the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, beating Shaun Micheel 10 and 8 in a record victory for the final. Casey became the only player in Ryder Cup history to win a foursome match with a hole-in-one on Saturday, 23 September 2006, in Ireland.

Casey sparked controversy in November 2004, when in an interview for the Sunday Times newspaper he reportedly said, of the US Ryder Cup team, "Oh, we properly hate them. We wanted to beat them as badly as possible". Several leading American golfers, including Fred Funk and Davis Love III, publicly dismissed the controversy surrounding Casey as tabloid mischief. Casey later apologised saying the remarks were taken out of context and using the word "hate" was an error. Casey has an American coach (Peter Kostis) and girlfriend and says he "has nothing against America".[6]

Casey earned his first PGA Tour win on 5 April 2009 by defeating J. B. Holmes in a one-hole playoff at the Shell Houston Open.[7] This win took him to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking.[8]

Casey won his milestone 10th event on the European Tour at the 2009 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, where he won by one stroke over Wentworth resident and fellow Englishman Ross Fisher. This win vaulted Casey to a career high of 3rd in the Official World Golf Ranking.[1] He had been ranked at No. 41 at the beginning of 2009.[2] Casey suffered a rib injury at the 2009 Open Championship, limited the amount of golf he could play in the second half of 2009.

In January 2011, Casey won the Volvo Golf Champions tournament in Bahrain, which was his first win for 20 months.[9]

Casey won the 2012 Telus World Skins Game in Canada, having defeated Jhonattan Vegas in a tiebreaker during the event in July.[10]

Casey (left) celebrates after winning the 2009 BMW PGA Championship.

In June 2013, Casey won his 12th European Tour title at The Irish Open to end a two and half-year winless drought due to form and fitness problems.[11] He captured the title with a final round 67 in changeable conditions, to win by three strokes over Joost Luiten and Robert Rock. He had begun the day four shots behind the leader Luiten, but a run of five birdies in six holes in the middle of the round opened up a three shot lead. It was reduced to one stroke, when Casey bogeyed the 15th and 16th, but a closing eagle on the par five 18th sealed the victory.[12]

In September 2014, Casey won his 13th European Tour title at the KLM Open in the Netherlands, his first victory of the 2014 season. He took victory after posting a final round 66, putting him one shot ahead of runner up, and fellow Englishman Simon Dyson. He started the final round four strokes off the lead of Romain Wattel. The victory was especially emotional and gratifying as Casey's wife Pollyanna had given birth to the couple's first child two week prior to the event.[13]

In 2015, Casey chose to give up his European Tour exemption and focus solely on the PGA Tour, citing a need to lessen his travel.[14] In February 2015, Casey finished in a tie for second at the Northern Trust Open after losing in a sudden-death playoff to James Hahn. Casey finished the tournament at six-under-par, tied with Hahn and Dustin Johnson. After the trio all parred the first extra hole, Casey could only make a par on the second extra hole and was eliminated when Hahn and Johnson both got up and down for birdies from the greenside rough. Casey continued his good form in America the following week, when he finished in a tie for third at the Honda Classic, one shot outside of a playoff. Two weeks later he equalled his 2004 performance by finishing tied for 6th place in the 2015 Masters.

In 2016, Casey finished 2nd at both the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship before finishing 4th at the Tour Championship to finish 5th in the 2016 FedEx Cup Playoffs, his best career performance in the Playoffs.

After making himself unavailable to qualify for the 2016 Ryder Cup through not being a member of the European Tour, Casey rejoined the tour in late 2017 with aspirations of making the European team for the 2018 match at Le Golf National.[15] He was subsequently selected for the EurAsia Cup in January 2018.[16] He scored two points out of a possible three and, ahead of the tournament, said he had 'no issues' with 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, who famously overlooked the then world No. 9 for a spot on the European team at Celtic Manor.[17]

Casey won the Valspar Championship in 2018, his first PGA Tour win in nine years.

Amateur wins (5)

Professional wins (18)

PGA Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 5 Apr 2009 Shell Houston Open 66-70-69-72=277 −11 Playoff United States J. B. Holmes
2 11 Mar 2018 Valspar Championship 70-68-71-65=274 −10 1 stroke United States Patrick Reed, United States Tiger Woods

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2009 Shell Houston Open United States J. B. Holmes Won with bogey on first extra hole
2 2015 Northern Trust Open United States James Hahn, United States Dustin Johnson Hahn won with birdie on third extra hole
Casey eliminated with par on second hole
3 2015 Travelers Championship United States Bubba Watson Lost to birdie on second extra hole

European Tour wins (13)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 26 Aug 2001 Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship 69-69-67-69=274 −14 1 stroke Germany Alex Čejka
2 9 Feb 2003 ANZ Championship 45 pts (8-10-21-6=45) 4 points Australia Stuart Appleby,
Australia Nick O'Hern
3 11 May 2003 Benson & Hedges International Open 71-69-66-71=277 −11 4 strokes Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington
4 20 Mar 2005 TCL Classic1 64-68-68-66=266 −22 Playoff Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley
5 27 Nov 2005
(2006 season)
Volvo China Open1 71-69-70-65=275 −13 Playoff England Oliver Wilson
6 25 Jun 2006 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles (2) 67-71-66-72=276 −16 1 stroke England Andrew Marshall,
Denmark Søren Hansen
7 17 Sep 2006 HSBC World Match Play Championship 10 & 8 United States Shaun Micheel
8 21 Jan 2007 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship 71-68-67-65=271 −17 1 stroke Sweden Peter Hanson,
Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez
9 18 Jan 2009 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship (2) 69-65-63-70=267 −21 1 stroke Germany Martin Kaymer,
South Africa Louis Oosthuizen
10 24 May 2009 BMW PGA Championship 69-67-67-68=271 −17 1 stroke England Ross Fisher
11 30 Jan 2011 Volvo Golf Champions 67-67-66-68=268 −20 1 stroke Sweden Peter Hanson,
Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez
12 30 Jun 2013 The Irish Open 68-72-67-67=274 −14 3 strokes Netherlands Joost Luiten,
England Robert Rock
13 14 Sep 2014 KLM Open 68-70-62-66=266 −14 1 stroke England Simon Dyson

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (2–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2004 Celtic Manor Wales Open England Simon Khan Lost to birdie on second extra hole
2 2005 TCL Classic Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley Won with birdie on second extra hole
3 2005 Volvo China Open England Oliver Wilson Won with birdie on first extra hole

Asian Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 20 Mar 2005 TCL Classic1 64-68-68-66=266 −22 Playoff Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley
2 27 Nov 2005 Volvo China Open1 71-69-70-65=275 −13 Playoff England Oliver Wilson

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Korean Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runners-up
1 2 Oct 2011 Shinhan Donghae Open 77-73-69-69=288 E 1 stroke South Korea Kang Sung-hoon, South Korea Kim Kyung-tae

Other wins (2)

Results in major championships

Tournament 20022003200420052006200720082009
Masters Tournament T6 CUT T10 T11 T20
U.S. Open CUT CUT WD 15 T10 T65 CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT T20 CUT 71 T27 T7 T47
PGA Championship CUT 66 CUT T59 CUT T40 T15
Tournament 201020112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament CUT T38 CUT T6 T4 6 T15
U.S. Open T40 CUT T45 T56 T39 CUT 26 T16
The Open Championship T3 T54 CUT T47 T74 CUT T11 T51
PGA Championship T12 T72 CUT T33 CUT T30 T10 T13 CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament000158129
U.S. Open000013159
The Open Championship0011241611
PGA Championship0000141610
Totals00129195939
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (2007 Masters – 2009 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament200320042005200620072008
Mexico Championship T8 T21 T56 T9 T51
Match Play R64 R64 R64 R64 QF R16
Bridgestone Invitational T17 T16 T19 T4 T51 T8
Tournament2009201020112012201320142015201620172018
Mexico Championship T31 T6 T18 T51 T38 7 T16 T12
Match Play 2 2 R32 QF T51 R16 T17
Bridgestone Invitational WD T22 T45 T27 T17 T16 T5 T31
HSBC Champions WD T6 T4 20 T23 T12 T11
  Top 10
  Did not play

WD = Withdrew
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Casey holds on for Wentworth win". BBC Sport. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Casey Set on No. 1; Third-ranked golfer looking to justify his spot". New York Daily News. 17 June 2009. p. 54.
  3. Brown, Oliver (8 November 2011). "Casey bounces back after form dipped during painful divorce". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 Corrigan, James (6 January 2014). "Paul Casey starts European Tour season by getting engaged to Pollyanna Woodward". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  5. "Week 3 – Paul Casey Wins the Abu Dhabi Championship and Reaches World Number 13". Official World Golf Ranking. 22 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. "Casey apologises for 'hate' jibe". BBC Sport. 18 November 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. "Casey clinches maiden PGA victory". BBC Sport. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  8. "Week 14 – Paul Casey Wins the Shell Houston Open and Jumps to World Number Six". Official World Golf Ranking. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  9. "Paul Casey wins first title for 20 months in Bahrain". BBC Sport. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  10. "Paul Casey beats Jhonattan Vegas in skins game shootout". CBC Sports. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  11. "Former world No 3 Casey seals first win in over two years at Irish Open". Daily Mail. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  12. "Paul Casey captures the Irish Open". European Tour. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  13. Corrigan, James (14 September 2014). "Paul Casey 'over the moon' after victory, while Andy Sullivan wins a trip to space". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  14. Casey forfeits Euro membership to focus on PGA Tour
  15. Inglis, Martin (30 October 2017). "Paul Casey gives Ryder Cup boost to Team Europe". bunkered.
  16. Inglis, Martin (23 November 2017). "Paul Casey back playing team golf for Europe". bunkered.
  17. Inglis, Martin (11 January 2018). "Paul Casey 'never had an issue' with Monty". bunkered.
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