Top 40 players in the Official World Golf Rankings – Paul Casey
16 – Paul Casey
Nicknamed Popeye due to the sheer size of his forearms, Paul Alexander Casey was born on July 21, 1977 at Cheltenham, England. When he was six, his family decided to move to Weybridge, Surrey, where he finished his high school education. When time came to
pick universities, Casey decided to go for Arizona State University where he received a golf scholarship. He has lived in Arizona since.
Casey burst onto the professional scene in 2000 following an extremely successful amateur career that culminated in a record individual performance at the 1999 Walker Cup in Nairn, Scotland. He was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland’s winning 1999
Walker Cup team, where he also carved his name in the records books, by becoming only the third player in the last 70 years to claim 4 straight victories without a defeat. Popeye was also the first man to win three consecutive Pac-10 Championships. In 2000
he broke the championship scoring record held by Tiger Woods of 18-under-par, with a 23-under-par, 265.
Casey recorded a second in his fifth event of the European Tour in 2001 and a win in his eleventh. He was 22nd on the Order of Merit that year and also collected the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the year award.
In the year 2004, Casey helped the English team win the WGC-World Cup partnering with Luke Donald. Although he qualified for the membership of the US based tour for the 2005 season, he still mainly plays in Europe. The golfer was also the leader of the European
Tour Order of Merit in 2006, but the final event saw Padraig Harrington overtake him.
Casey won the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth in the year 2006 beating Shaun Michael 10 and 8 in a record victory for the final. Another record was grabbed by Casey when he became the only player in Ryder Cup history to win a foursome match
with a hole in one on 23rd September 2006, in Ireland.
Casey was the highest ranked Englishman for a time in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), in the year 2007; he reached a career best his at 13th in the rankings. Later, he went on to reach the #6 rank when he earned his PGA Tour win in 2009
by defeating J.B Holmes in a one hole playoff at the Shell Houston Open.
The 10th event win came to Casey on the European Tour at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey in the year 2009, when he defeated Ross Fisher, fellow Englishman and Wentworth resident, by only one stroke. This also gave him
the career high rank of 3rd in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Aside from golf, Casey is an avid Cricket player, loves cycling and snowboarding. His favourite getaway destination is Lake Garda, Italy. Casey worked with China Resources Company to design a golf course at Shimei Bay in China.
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 apologized saying the remarks were taken out of context and using the word “hate” was an error.
Casey has an American coach, Peter Kostis, and says he “has nothing against America.”
Interestingly, Casey is currently married to Jocelyn Hefner who is also an American.
Things got a little slow for Casey after 2009, he got struck with a rib injury which limited his play. After a 20-month drought, Casey won the Volvo Golf Champions Tournament in Bahrain. It seems the 34-year-old Englishman has recovered fully and is back
in his groove to give a stiff challenge to the top players.
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