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Casey hopes for second wind
5 November 2009
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Paul Casey believes he is still in the hunt to become the first Race to Dubai champion, but admits he must win a big tournament in the remaining weeks of the season to stand any chance.
The Englishman has three victories under his belt this season that took him to the top of The Race to Dubai leaderboard, but sustained a rib injury prior to The Open Championship at Turnberry which has kept him out of action for three months.
Casey remains No. 5 in The Race to Dubai, with the top five players separated by only $350,000, and when asked if he had given up hope on the $1.5 million bonus pool, he smiled and said, “No.”
“But I need to win an event,” he added. “And when you’re up against this quality of field and you’re not 100 percent, it’s difficult.”
Having not played a full round since Turnberry, Casey returned to competition last week in the World Match Play Championship, but lost all three of his pool matches.
Casey described his health at about 70 percent and has yet to hit a shot from the rough since his return, mainly because the Finca Cortesin course in Spain had none.
“I went six or seven weeks when I didn’t pick up a club at all,” said Casey. “But I regained my love of the game.
“I’m not qualified to do anything else. In a way, I relearned how to play. The week before Match Play, I was enjoying going to the golf course every day. Without injury, I should do it again.”
After the HSBC Champions, Casey is headed for the Hong Kong Open, which announced the strongest field in its history thanks in part to The Race to Dubai, then plays in the season finale Dubai World Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 19-22
