PAUL CASEY, the Europe Ryder Cup player, revealed yesterday that he had suffered the same fate as Michael Campbell, the US Open champion, in having the number of events he can play on the US tour this year severely curtailed.
Speaking after an opening round of 68, four under par, at the Johnnie Walker Classic here, Casey said that he will be restricted to a maximum of ten events on the US tour after his decision not to play a minimum of 15 tournaments in 2005.
As a Ryder Cup player, Casey had been given special dispensation to join the tour for two years, but his world ranking plummeted after the fallout in the United States from unflattering comments he made about Americans had appeared in a national newspaper in Britain. The 28-year-old Englishman played ten counting events in 2005 and withdrew from the US Open at Pinehurst after an opening round of 85 — to the dismay of the organisers.
Casey, now No 52 in the world, will be looking for some good results in an attempt to get himself inside the top 50 and into the Masters in April. Needless to say, he is beginning to learn the art of diplomacy. “Rules are rules and they (the PGA Tour) are very good at protecting their tour,” he said.
Adam Scott, regarded by many as the Australian most likely to win a major, made a good start to the defence of his title here with a 64 that included an eagle and eight birdies and gave him a share of the first-round lead with Kevin Stadler, of the US, on eight under par.
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Most surprising for a player renowned for his clean-cut image is the unkempt look that Scott has effected, his hair protruding from underneath his cap. It turns out that about four months’ ago he struck a three-way bet with Sergio García, of Spain, and Tim Clark, of South Africa, in which the first one to cut his hair pays the other two $1,000 (about £575). “I’m not going to crack,” Scott said.
“There are going to be three scruffy blokes on the tour.”
For Ian Poulter and Nick Dougherty, ranked No 67 and No 69 respectively in the world, this event could provide a way into the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, which is open to the world’s top 64, in California in two weeks’ time. Poulter started brightly but finished disappointed with a round of 70. Dougherty was left to rue dropped shots at the final two holes in a round of 74.
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