6 minute read
Paul Casey
DEFENDING CHAMPION AND ROLEX TESTIMONEE PAUL CASEY REFLECTS ON HIS WIN AT EMIRATES GOLF CLUB 12 MONTHS AGO AND THE OVERDUE UPGRADING OF THE ‘MAJOR OF THE MIDDLE EAST’
events on tour”
With the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic
becoming a new Rolex Series event, has your defence become bigger due to the prestige
of it? I feel like it has fi nally been elevated to the position that I think a lot of us felt it was. For an event which is so new, it has gained a lot of prestige amongst the players. I think the trophy also helps. I think we can all agree that the trophies in the UAE are quite stunning. To me, it’s fantastic news. Rolex’s continued support to golf is acutely aware to everyone and I think the brand is appreciated by golf fans globally. There is a massive diff erence between normal events and Rolex Series events. • • •
Your focus a year ago was to win Majors and to get into the
Olympics and Ryder Cup team. What’s the goal for 2022? I’ve had this discussion with a few guys and I wonder if specifi c categories is what I need to focus on. So, if I’m 100th in the world in one specifi c category, maybe I want to get into the top 25 and have that as the goal. These aims inform my practice but I’m certainly not lacking any motivation at all. • • •
What advice would you give to players in the amateur scene out
here in the UAE looking to follow in your footsteps? I don’t know the amateur scene well enough out here and what opportunities they have in place for the trajectory of their golf career but in the UK, you either turn professional or you worked in a shop. I tip my hat to Ian Poulter because very few people make it professional from his position. You can’t really go to university and play golf as education and golf don’t mix. Both of those fi rst two options seemed scary, and my parents were keen on me furthering my education so the college route for me just made sense. After six months in the USA I got quite home sick but everything you do as a college student prepares you well for being a professional, especially because you’re away from home. I was playing against the likes of Adam Scott and Luke Donald, so the standard was so high. There are thousands of kids who try to make it in golf, but fail, so education is so important. Maybe they end up in business and golf remains a great tool for them but the underlying thing for me has always been about taking opportunities whether that’s a job opportunity, college golf, or professional golf. • • •
Is there a moment from last January’s win at the Dubai Desert Classic that sticks out, maybe something behind the scenes?
Well, I arrived on a Tuesday night because I had played golf in the United States the week before. I woke up on Wednesday morning having no clue where I was before playing the Pro-Am quickly in a total daze due to the jet lag. I ended going on to win the event, but interestingly I was physically exhausted due to heavy jet lag. It shows that energy can sometimes come from another source. At that point we were heavily locked down with Covid-19, not being allowed to leave our hotel rooms. At the course we had about 500/800 spectators who were largely members and guests, but when we got to these pockets of fans on the golf course it was so brilliant because we literally hadn’t played in front of anyone. To me it’s just one of the coolest events on the tour.
You were very emotional that week, so 12 months on, what did that famous event mean to you and why were you so emotional?
I really struggled with the temporary pause that we had on the PGA Tour because of Covid-19 and I wasn’t playing well at the time. I struggled for the rest of that season and then I just had to re-focus and get 2020 behind me. Our performances on course are what are always talked about but I had a rubbish time off the course as well as I couldn’t operate the way I normally could, just like everyone else. I think it was a culmination of it being my 15th win at what is obviously an amazing tournament, and also the fact that 2020 was a write off . I wanted to start fresh in 2021 and I managed to get a win early on. I turned it around very quickly and that doesn’t always happen. • • •
Somebody asked you at that point if you were better a er 40 than you were before it. You explained that you had matured a bit –
would you say you are more relaxed now? Yes, I think I am. I used to live and die by the results in my 20’s and 30’s which I understand. But, when you’re trying to become a successful athlete and you never know if you’re going to make it, people talking in your ear. You then start to look back and think am I under achieving? I think there’s just so many expectations and a whole lot of noise and it can be hard to process sometimes.
A LOT OF ATHLETES SAY DON’T LOOK BACK UNTIL YOU’RE FINISHED, BUT I’M DEFINITELY ABLE TO LOOK BACK AND THINK THAT WAS A REALLY GOOD VICTORY IN DUBAI
• • • Do you have the longevity of a Rolex timepiece? Well, I’m not as consistent! If I was a second-hand watch, it might not be as beautiful and sweet. I feel like I’ve been trying to strike a balance between refl ecting on my career, for example the Olympics – it was a goal which I achieved. A lot of athletes say don’t look back until you’re fi nished, but I’m defi nitely able to look back and think that was a really good victory in Dubai, but it doesn’t make me ‘soft’ for this week and trying to win. What is success? It’s not really about the trophy and of course I want to win, but it’s about the fact that I’ve got a happy and healthy family, and a great group of friends. • • • What is your earliest memory of a watch? I remember my dad losing one in the ocean when I was young, but I think it was my Grandad and listening to the mechanism of his watch on my ear that fi rst caught my interest. My knowledge of watches was very limited until I was a young adult and then just a fascination began. I have a fascination for all things mechanical, for example I love my cars as well. It’s old and new as well because it’s vintage and modern. The fi rst Rolex I bought was in 2001 as I had won the Scottish PGA the week before, so to reward myself I walked in and I bought a ‘Pepsi’ dialled GMT which I still have. I’m not generally a jewellery wearer, but watches I just love.
