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NOVEMBER 2015, ISSUE 12 VOL 56 | THE BRITS ISSUE | PAUL CASEY | DANNY WILLETT | TOMMY FLEETWOOD | THE FUTURE OF WESTWOOD, DONALD, G-MAC | TAYLORMADE'S M1 | SHORT GAME SPECIAL | TOP 100
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THE
SECOND
COMING
PAUL
CASEY
Fit and healthy for the first time in three years and emotionally settled
following a painful divorce, a hungry Paul Casey once again has his sights
set on major championship and Ryder Cup success.

There was a time, not so very long ago,
when Paul Casey was the World No.3
golfer. The most naturally gifted of
the so-called “golden generation” of
Englishmen that included Lee Westwood,
Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Justin
Rose, the former World Match Play
champion was regarded as the man most
likely to win major championships.
It hasn’t happened, though. Set back by
a shoulder injury incurred while snow
boarding in 2012, Casey lost a year of his
career and struggled initially upon his
return. Although now comfortably back
among the world’s top-50 players, the
former English Amateur champion fell
low enough that he felt unable to fulfil the
membership requirements on both sides
of the Atlantic. As of right now, he is not
a European Tour member and so is
ineligible for a Ryder Cup in which he has
twice represented Europe. However, still
to reach his 40th birthday, a fully-fit
Casey is confident enough to see himself
as the leader of a new wave of British
golfers – the likes of Danny Willett,
Tommy Fleetwood, Eddie Pepperell and
Russell Knox – that will likely challenge
for major championships over the next
decade and more. John Huggan caught
up with an affable, honest and very open
Casey at St Andrews during The Open.
GW: You’ve made some obvious
progress this year, but how close are you
to where you were before your accident?
PC: That’s a good question. But I’m not
sure I can give you an honest answer.
I don’t really want to measure myself
against where I was before. I don’t want to
say that I’m, say, 95 per cent of the player
I was in 2009 or 2010. Because I’m older
and hopefully better. Which is true. I do
think I’m a better golfer now.
In what ways are you better?
I have a better understanding of my
game and my body. I’m
The relief and enjoyment on
Casey’s face is obvious as he
claims the 2014 KLM Open.
fitter now than I’ve ever been, although I’m
not quite as strong. Maybe there isn’t quite
as much clubhead speed. But if you factor
in understanding, experience, time
management, I’m at least as good as I was,
even if I’ve lost a few yards off the tee. So
I prefer to look at where I am potentialwise.
I still think I have another five to 10
per cent to eke out.
That is believable because you haven’t
won yet at the highest level.
Exactly. I’ve had a couple of second-places
this year. Which is very good. But it hasn’t
been spectacular. Not by the standard I
reached before I was injured. I started the
year not in the majors or the World Golf
Championships. I’ve come a long way, but
it’s unnerving not knowing your schedule.
Is it fair to attribute your fall in the world
rankings solely to your injury problems?
There was a divorce in there, too, which
was obviously upsetting. Emotionally, it is
difficult. It does occupy the mind. But in
time you get over it. The injury was more
influential. It affected my physicality so it
affected the way I swung the club and the
way I hit the ball. I had no control, which
made me fearful, even though I tried to
play through it.
What was the low point?
I don’t have one particular moment or
shot, but I remember withdrawing from
the Players Championship a couple of
years ago. I was just so scared. I was a
physical and mental wreck.
Were you panicking?
If panic is worry and stress, then I was.
It was difficult because my coach, Peter
Kostis, couldn’t give me what he wanted
to give me because I wasn’t right physically
or mentally. That put him in a tough spot.
He was giving me a lot of emotional
support, but as far as my swing was
concerned he had to keep it simple. It’s
only in the last year that we have really
been able to get back to the level of
information I really need.
I actually had a go at him earlier this
year. We were talking about footwork and
I got a bit upset and asked him why he
hadn’t given me that particular piece of
information before. He told me I didn’t
need it because I wouldn’t have been able
to do it even if I had wanted to. It
was a fair point, but he didn’t take it
well and it was a couple of days
before we made up. I realised I had
crossed the line. But we have
known each other a long
time so we got over it.
November 2015 Golf World 39

44 Golf World November 2015

DANNY WILLETT
BEST OF BRITISH
“I’VE HAD TIMES
WHEN I’VE WANTED
AN ARM ROUND
MY SHOULDER
AND I’VE BEEN
GIVEN A KICK UP
THE BACKSIDE
INSTEAD”
Widely hailed as the Next Big Thing following his impressive performance at the
2007 Walker Cup, Sheffield’s Danny Willett is now living up to his full potential
with two victories in the past 10 months, writes John Huggan.

‘THERE ARE MANY GUYS
OUT HERE WHO DON’T
ENJOY TOURNAMENT
GOLF. I’M THE OPPOSITE.
PUT A CARD IN MY HAND
AND I‘M RARING TO GO’

BEST OF BRITISH
RUSSELL KNOX
THE SHOT THAT
CHANGED MY LIFE
One flushed hybrid was the catalyst for a remarkable journey that took the Scotsman
from the mini-tours in America to the PGA Tour in a matter of months.
Just a few years ago, only the
most dedicated golf fan would
have noticed when a mysterious
Scot without a single European
or Challenge Tour start to his
name won on the Web.Com Tour to
earn his PGA Tour card for the 2012
season. Russell Knox failed to retain his
card in his rookie season and continued
to fly under the radar as he split his time
between the top two tiers of American
golf in 2013. But when he finished 2nd
in last year’s Honda Classic, onlookers
on both sides of the Atlantic stood up
and took notice.
This season, Knox’s nine top 25s,
including two third-place finishes, have
established his status on the PGA Tour
and launched him into the top 80 of the
world rankings. The future is bright but
perhaps wouldn’t even have been possible
were it not for one stunning hybrid shot.
Knox himself takes up the story…
“I’d been playing the mini tours for
three-and-a-half years and I was making
a nice enough living, but I kept going to
PGA Tour Qualifying School and
failing miserably, even after playing well
all year,” Knox says. “One day I said to
my girlfriend at the time, ‘That’s it, I’m
going to Monday qualify every week
until I’m broke. If I don’t make it, I don’t
make it. I’m fed up with mini-tour golf.’
“In my first Monday qualifier for a
Web.Com Tour event in 2011, I finished
birdie-eagle to get into the tournament.
I hit a hybrid on the last to two feet and
finished second in the tournament. It
was crazy how it happened. That was a
huge turning point for me and my life
could be very different if I hadn’t hit that
hybrid so close. A couple of months later
I won on the Web.Com and that got me
onto the PGA Tour in 2012. It all
happened super fast.
“That was maybe why I struggled on
my first year on tour. It was a blast on
the mini tours. A buddy of mine, Kip,
caddied for me and we drove everywhere.
We put on some serious miles on my
little Toyota hatchback and stayed in
cheap motels. But the social scene was
great. We weren’t playing for that much
money so it was easy to make friends.
Suddenly, a few months later, I was
playing with my heroes on unfamiliar
courses on the PGA Tour and it was very
different – and difficult!
“A lot of guys I played with on the mini
tours are on the PGA Tour now. But
there are also guys who did well but
RANKINGS RECORD
From the cusp of 1,000 to the brink of
the top 50, Knox has enjoyed a rapid rise.
79 300 600 963
963
308 328 245
100
79
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
haven’t made it. There were so many
guys who hit the ball way better than
I do. And you do wonder why they don’t
make it. But there is more to it and it
just shows how difficult it really is.
“I think you just know in your gut if
you’re going to make it or not. I strongly
believe there are many guys out here who
truly don’t enjoy tournament golf. I’m
the opposite. Whenever I get a card in
my hand, I’m ready to go. I love being
nervous. I swing a little faster and my
ball flight changes. I love the competition
and find it hard to play when it doesn’t
mean anything. That separates a lot of
people, I think.
“I’ve won at all levels as a professional
except the PGA Tour, so I know how to
do it and how it feels. But it’s hard and
I’m not going to force it. Everyone is so
good. There are only a few guys who win
with less than their best stuff. I need to
putt a little better to win on the PGA
Tour. From tee-to-green I’ve had a few
weeks this year where I could have won
had I putted better. I’d like to have a few
wins five years from now and get into
the majors consistently. I feel like my
game is geared towards the hardest
courses. I keep the ball in play, I can get
it round and the mental side of my game
is a strength. So it would be nice to sneak
one of those.
“Before I do that though, I need to
start contending more in regular Tour
events. I’m getting there; I’ve improved
every year. If I keep doing that, things
like wins, the Ryder Cup and majors
should happen. Play well, and everything
else takes care of itself.”

GOLF WORLD
TEST
MEASURING DEVICES
The latest GPS devices from SkyCaddie, Garmin and GolfBuddy tested and compared.
SKYCADDIE
TOUCH
£329.85
GARMIN
APPROACH
G8 £329.99
Ever since 1502, when James IV of Scotland
commanded a local bow-maker to use his
prized ash to whip him up a new set of sticks,
golf has developed a habit of nabbing
technology from the military. In recent times
it’s been military-grade titanium for our drivers and
missile-tracking systems for our launch monitors. But
it’s also been the satellites, hoisted into orbit by the
Americans at the height of Cold War paranoia to spy on
their enemies – but now awarded the more agreeable duty
of telling us if we can get home with an 8-iron.
Growing interest in sat nav prompted the launch of
some 24 further satellites between 1989 and 1994,
adding to a revolving constellation now labelled the
Global Positioning System. In 2000 civilians were
granted the same levels of precision afforded the military
– and within months, the first applications for golf were
mooted. Founded in 1999 GolfLogix are believed to be

EQUIPMENT
GOLFBUDDY
PT4
£299
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGUS MURRAY
the first company to have brought out a handheld GPS
device. SkyHawke, the company behind SkyCaddie,
began developing devices in 2001, bringing their SG2 to
market in 2003 – the same year GolfBuddy launched
their GolfBuddy Plus. This was still some three years
before golf’s ruling bodies commuted distancemeasuring
devices from an outright ban to permissible
under local rule.
It is a measure of how far golf GPS has come that
those early, pioneering devices now look so dated.
Generally squat handheld units that gave you yardages
to front, middle and back of the green, they have been
continually upgraded for graphics and ease of use, with
increasingly sophisticated course mapping permitting
ever-more advanced features. The three leading handheld
devices on trial here – Golf Buddy’s PT4, SkyCaddie’s
Touch and Garmin’s G8 – all exemplify the rapid
progress made by golf’s newest genre.

COURSES
BRINGING YOU THE BEST PLACES TO PLAY EACH MONTH
94 Golf World The Open Issue 2015

COURSES
TOP 100
RANK 73
GB&I
TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT
Royal St David’s
It may lack the drama of some of our other seaside stars, but Chris
Bertram says you are unwise to underestimate this Welsh links.
LEFT AND BELOW: The Snowdonia mountain range
and Harlech Castle afford dramatic backdrops as you
navigate the links of Royal St David’s.
There are distinct phases to a visit
to Royal St David’s. The initial
experience is laced with intrigue
and anticipation, emotions borne from
a memorable arrival in the town of
Harlech. Once on the links, your
sentiments are more prosaic, cultivated
by the challenge of a course touted as the
world’s toughest par 69. It may feel a tired
description, but it is founded in accuracy.
It’s almost as if St David’s seduces you
into relaxed complacency, only to bloody
your nose and make off with your wallet.
By reading this article you now have no
excuse for being hijacked by her; yet first
glimpse of this delicious linksland will
still likely encourage some to fancy their
chances with this relatively short exam.
Most of Harlech is wedged seemingly
precariously into a steep hillside
overlooking the Gwynedd coastline and
it is into this lofty location that you enter
the town within Snowdonia National
Park, picking your way along the kind of
twisting coast road you only ever seem to
travel along when homing in on a worldclass
links. It is from here that you first
catch a glance of the course, eliciting
teenage-like excitement at glimpses
between gaps in the hillside houses of the
stellar linksland way down below.
There then becomes an impatient
urgency to your journey as you weave
down the narrow lanes – including
Ffordd Pen Llech, the UK’s steepest
public road (40 per cent gradient) – that
is akin to a descent in the Alps.
If you can avert your eyes from the
ribbons of sandy turf between pyramid
dunes you will likely notice Harlech
Castle. It is an imposing sight, dating
back to 1283 and was once captured by
Welsh revolutionary Owain Glyndwr
before being regained by the army of
Henry Tudor. Its bloody history only
adds to the romance of the setting.
Hunched down atop a spur of rock,
the castle’s towering location is at once
intimidating and puzzling, given it is half
a mile from the sea. In fact, when it was
built the Irish Sea lapped its foundations
and it is due to changes in geology that it
now finds itself inland.
On land left behind by the retreating
sea sits the links of Royal St David’s.
Your journey here – the glimpses of the
November 2015 Golf World 95