By Paul Myers
At age 37, Paul Casey has already had an incredible career as a professional golfer both in Europe and the United States, and given his current form, there seems to be plenty of great golf ahead. Paul Casey turned pro back in 2000 and has amassed 16 professional wins in the 15 years since. 13 of his wins as a pro have come on the European Tour, where Casey has enjoyed most of his success. He does have one PGA Tour win to his credit, which came at the Shell Houston Open in 2009. Already in 2015 he has lost twice in playoffs on the PGA Tour, once to James Hahn and once to Bubba Watson.
Over the course of his career, Paul Casey has finished in the top ten at a major championship six times, the most recent coming in the 2015 Masters. His best ever major finish was a tie for third at The Open Championship in 2010. The Open Championship in 2010 was held at St. Andrews, where it returns in the summer of 2015. Given his recent form and his track record of success at The Old Course, it would not be a surprise to see Casey rise near the top of the leaderboard in the season’s third major.
A Great Combination
Many players on the PGA Tour excel in one of two areas – either they have a lot of power off the tee, or they control their golf ball and hit a lot of greens. Paul Casey does both. So far during the 2015 season, Casey is ranked 45th on the PGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 295.0 yards. At the same time, he is 6th in greens in regulation percentage at 71.41%. That is a pretty difficult combination to beat – a player who can hit it long down the fairway and control it enough to place the ball on the green time after time. When looking at just those two stats, it is easy to see why Paul Casey is having such a good year on the PGA Tour.
Coming Up Clutch
Another impressive stat that Paul Casey has compiled in the 2015 season is his final round scoring average. On Sunday, Casey is averaging 69.60, good for 31st on the PGA Tour. Of course professionals want to play great every time they tee it up, but it is especially important to be able to deliver on Sunday when the pressure is on. Obviously Casey is having no trouble in that area, as his final round scoring average is actually his lowest of all four rounds. If Paul Casey can stay close to the lead during the first three days of a tournament, he has to be considered a legitimate threat during Sunday’s action.
It would be a mistake to write off Paul Casey at this point in his career simply because he has been playing professional golf for 15 years. When you look closely at his 2015 performance, as well as the underlying statistics, it is clear that Casey doesn’t plan on going away anytime in the near future.