Paul Casey will not be able to hit the ball as far as he did when winning the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship twice in the last three years when he tees-off at the 10th this morning, but he does not regard that handicap as an insurmountable barrier to his hopes of a grand National hat-trick.
The powerfully-built Englishman feels more like a weakling at the moment as he recovers slowly from the rib injury which wrecked what was developing into a terrific 2009 season. Three victories in the first half of the campaign, including a breakthrough triumph on the US PGA Tour, suggested that it would be he, not Lee Westwood, who would romp away with the first Race to Dubai. The painful blow sustained during the British Open championship at Turnberry became so serious it prevented him from even making the starting line on the Earth course four months later.
"I'm still conscious of it," said Casey as he looked forward eagerly to opening his defence of the Falcon Trophy alongside Westwood and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy today. "There is nothing to suggest I couldn't do it again which is slightly scary." Casey has fingers crossed that his unwanted rest has cleared up the nagging problem, but his doctors will not know for sure for another 12 months. In the meantime, he is doing his best to protect the damaged area by playing within himself and forfeiting some of the prodigious length off the tee that has made him a giant on an Abu Dhabi course tailored to suit big hitters.
"Length has always been a big advantage here, so I suppose I am at a disadvantage this time not hitting it as far," he said. "My ball is still going a long way, just not as far as I want it to go." @Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae
