Keen, like most, to consign to the past 2020, Paul Casey achieved that pretty soon into 2021.
Fortunately, it took only his second event of the year. In January, the Englishman prevailed by four shots at the Dubai Desert Classic, sealing a 15th European Tour title and kick-starting what he hoped to be a compelling campaign unaffected by the pandemic.
With the Olympics and the Ryder Cup to come, Dubai provided concrete evidence that 2021 could offer so much more than 2020.
When Casey accepted the distinctive Coffee Pot trophy afterwards, he couldn’t keep his emotions in check. The tears were tangible proof as to how much it mattered.
“I’d played some really bad golf coming out of the [pandemic-induced] pause they had on the PGA Tour,” Casey says during a round-table interview put together by sponsors Rolex. “It was about three months off; I didn’t play well and struggled the rest of that season.
“So, I tried to figure out what I needed to work on and where my motivation was. I wanted to get 2020 behind me, probably like everybody else on the planet, really.
“Our performances on course are what is always talked about, but I had a bad time away from it - at home with the family not being able to operate the way we normally would, which is just like everybody else. I was ready for that to be over.
“So, it was a culmination of it being my 15th win, the Dubai Desert Classic – which is just cool – and the fact that 2020 was a write-off. I had worked hard to make 2021 something successful, then boom: the second week out, there it is.
“You don’t often get the pay-off that quick. Sometimes you never get the pay-off. I’d worked hard, set a plan and accomplished it. It was really cool.”
Not that preparations that week had been ideal. Granted, Casey had begun his season well by finishing tied-8th on Sunday at The American Express, but he then had to hot-foot it from California to the UAE in time to tee it up at Emirates Golf Club. Not surprisingly, it took a while to get his bearings.
However, Casey’s cause was helped immensely by the spectators around the Majlis, albeit limited in number because of the Covid-19 protocols in place back then.
“I arrived on the Tuesday night, so I woke up on Wednesday and had no clue where I was,” Casey says. “I played the Pro-Am quickly in a bit of a daze and then went on to win the event.
“It’s interesting because I was heavily jet lagged from that. But it showed that energy can sometimes come from somewhere else, another source. At that point we were heavily locked down; they didn’t let us outside of the hotel that week. But at the course we had about 500-800 spectators, mostly members and guests.
“And the energy that we were getting as players in these little pockets when you got near those people was brilliant. Because we hadn’t really played in front of anybody.
“In the USA there were very few, and it was nice to see their enthusiasm. That was what was really cool for me. That energy. And it’s one of the coolest events on the tour. I love the trophy, obviously. I’m a big coffee fan.”
A month from now, Casey will already be in Dubai, getting set to defend that trophy. Running January 27-30, the 2022 Desert Classic marks a new era for a tournament first staged in 1989, with new title sponsors Slync.io and the event upgraded to the Rolex Series.
Now one of its five events – the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the previous week, opens the series – the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic carries an increased purse of $8 million (this year, it was $3.25m). Already, Casey, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, reigning Race to Dubai champion Collin Morikawa, and 2017 Desert Classic winner Sergio Garcia have been confirmed. Clearly, the tournament’s heightened status has had its desired effect.
“I feel like it’s finally been elevated to a position that a lot of us had always thought it was,” says Casey, a Rolex Testimonee since 2009, who has also won twice in Abu Dhabi. “For an event which is so new in the annals of golf, it gained quite some prestige among the players.
“The trophy for the event has helped that. We can all agree that the trophies for the tournaments in the UAE are quite stunning.
“To me, it’s fantastic news. Rolex, and their continued support of golf, is very much appreciated by the bulk of the membership and I think also golf fans globally. These events are significantly different, so I’m looking forward to it.”
As, no doubt, will be golf fans in the UAE. With Abu Dhabi and also the season-ending DP World Tour Championship stops on the Rolex Series – Casey is confirmed for the former – it bodes well for securing world-class fields and, subsequently, memorable action.
“It shows the importance of golf in this region,” Casey says. “The fact that Rolex chose Abu Dhabi and Dubai just shows the level of significance Rolex has with golf and the UAE.
“The first time I heard about Dubai was because of a golf event. If you look back at some of the first images of the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, it’s amazing.”
Dubai aside, Casey’s professional highlights in 2021 include top fives at the Players Championship, the PGA Championship and the WGC Invitational, while he was T-7th at the US Open.
At the outset of the season, contesting a first Olympics and a fifth Ryder Cup represented major goals. Casey ticked off both: in Tokyo, he finished T-4th, while he was part of the European Tour side that – unfortunately for him – relinquished the trophy at Whistling Straits.
Naturally, this year’s objectives differ slightly.
“Typically, it’s been a big-ticket thing for me: to make that team or make the other team,” Casey says. “It’s important for either cause that I play consistently well and think about winning events.
“And I’ve spoken to various guys, including my coach, and asked, ‘Is that still the way to do it? Or should I have the goal in 2022 of just [improving in] two or three categories?’ And then that will feed into my practice and my game and how I spend my time.
“I’m yet to figure it out. Right now, I’m not lacking motivation to get on a plane [and travel around the world]. I still want to do this.”
Now 44, and with the competitive fire still burning, Casey says he is however more relaxed about the game. He no longer “lives and dies by results”, he admits, although that should not be mistaken for any concession of the winding down of a career that, to this point, comprises 21 professional wins and a climb as high as to world No 3. Currently, he’s ranked 27th.
“A lot of athletes say don’t look back until you’re finished,” Casey says. “But I’m definitely able to look back and think that was a really good victory in Dubai, but it doesn’t make me ‘soft’ for [another event] and trying to win. I’m still hungry to compete and am hopefully not getting too soft or reflective. I’m able to strike a balance between reflecting a little bit.
“I still want to go out there and beat whoever I’m playing. But I can do it and enjoy it and, if it doesn’t happen, I’m OK with it. Because, to me, the success thing – what is success?
“It’s not about the trophy. Of course, we want to win, but it’s more about having a happy, healthy family, a bunch of friends. And the fact I love playing golf for a living. That’s pretty damn cool.”
