Paul Casey can break hoodoo now Jack Nicklaus’ Major secret is out

Getting in the groove: Paul Casey
David Smith13 April 2012

Jack Nicklaus knows more about the secrets of winning a Major than anyone.

So if the legendary holder of a record 18 Major titles suggests it is chiefly a matter of being in the right place at the right time, that will do for Paul Casey.

The 32-year-old accepts he has spent too long looking for a golfing Holy Grail that would help him towards a maiden Major.

Instead, with just a little luck, he believes Augusta National this week will prove the right place and the right time to finally fulfil his potential to become one of the game's greats.

Casey's 11 tour trophies include those from the World Match Play Championship, the European Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship, and the Houston Open on the US PGA Tour.

When it comes to the Majors Casey has come up short but he senses that's about to change. He said: "For quite a while I felt you had to do something extra special, something different, that I would have to play better golf than I would normally to win a Major.

"But I no longer think that's the case. The other day I read an interview with Jack Nicklaus and he alluded to something along the lines of it's not a question of having to do something extra special. He said he just put himself in the right place. It wasn't that he was given as many Majors as he won. But, because he put together good scores and a couple of other guys made mistakes, that's how he ended up winning a few of his titles.

"Obviously, the pressure in a Major is greater, and the courses are more difficult. But if I keep doing what I'm doing there is no reason why things can't fall into place, that maybe I get a little bit of luck, and I walk away with a Major victory."

Of the record eight English players competing for a green jacket over the next four days, Casey is probably better placed than any to end a drought of success for our golfers in Majors that extends back to the third of Nick Faldo's Masters wins in 1996.

Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Ross Fisher also have strong claims as they are in the world's top 30 while Oliver Wilson, Simon Dyson and Chris Wood are the outsiders of the English challenge.

Ryder Cup team-mate Poulter may have out-gunned him in the final of the World Golf Championship Match Play in Arizona two months ago but Casey has been more consistent this season with five top-10 finishes.

"I'm reaching the prime of my career right now," said Casey, who begins his challenge alongside Texan Chad Campbell and Italy's Francesco Molinari just after 3pm tomorrow. "I have had a couple of opportunities at Augusta but I'm more ready than I've ever been before. My golf game is good, mentally I'm in the right place."

In truth, English golf is in the right place, too. Nine years ago Westwood was the only Englishman in the world top 100. Faldo was next highest at 107th. But going into tomorrow's opening round at Augusta, the picture is much healthier.

Casey is well aware what an English victory in a Major will mean to the game on this side of the Atlantic.

He said: "Hopefully that drought will end soon, and hopefully it will be me who ends it. If it's not myself, then I'm pretty sure one of the other guys will do it fairly quickly. Poulter has shown he is a world-class player and Lee has been up there for years. That's before we even go down the list to Donald, Fisher and all the rest of them. There are so many good English players now."

Casey and Poulter are set to showcase their talent in the O2 Golf Live event at the Stoke Park course in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, on 14-16 May. Along with Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie and leading South African Retief Goosen, they will put on master classes and take part in a three-hole pro-celebrity challenge.

Casey, who might have challenged Westwood to become European No1 last year had he not been sidelined by a rib injury, is expecting a warm welcome from Montgomerie who will be banking on his and Poulter's match play talents when Europe seek to regain the Ryder Cup from the United States at Celtic Manor in October.

He said: "I'm sure Monty gives hugs! Starting out this year I wasn't sure how the season would go, I wasn't sure how long it would take to get back into the swing of things after the injury.

"I feel great and I've ranked a whole bunch of Ryder Cup points. It's nice that things are going in the right direction for me, too. I've had a bunch of great results so far this year, even though I haven't had any wins."

That may change come Sunday evening.

Tickets for O2 Golf LIVE on sale now and available from www.golfliveevent.com or by calling 0871 230 7130

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