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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<br />
THE<br />
BRITS<br />
ISSUE<br />
OUR FUTURE<br />
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Exclusives with Fleetwood,<br />
Willett, Sullivan and Knox<br />
CHANGING OF<br />
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SHORT GAME<br />
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Where do Westwood,<br />
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G-Mac and Donald<br />
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PAUL CASEY<br />
JASON DAY<br />
Steal his ball-striking and<br />
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Back to his best and spearheading the next<br />
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PRESIDENTS CUP<br />
Ultimate guide to the<br />
teams, players & course<br />
SPAIN v GERMANY<br />
Which European giant will<br />
host the 2022 Ryder Cup?<br />
EUROPE’S TOP<br />
100 COURSES<br />
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THE<br />
SECOND<br />
COMING<br />
PAUL<br />
CASEY<br />
Fit and healthy for the first time in three years and emotionally settled<br />
following a painful divorce, a hungry Paul Casey once again has his sights<br />
set on major championship and Ryder Cup success.
There was a time, not so very long ago,<br />
when Paul Casey was the World No.3<br />
golfer. The most naturally gifted of<br />
the so-called “golden generation” of<br />
Englishmen that included Lee Westwood,<br />
Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Justin<br />
Rose, the former World Match Play<br />
champion was regarded as the man most<br />
likely to win major championships.<br />
It hasn’t happened, though. Set back by<br />
a shoulder injury incurred while snow<br />
boarding in 2012, Casey lost a year of his<br />
career and struggled initially upon his<br />
return. Although now comfortably back<br />
among the world’s top-50 players, the<br />
former English Amateur champion fell<br />
low enough that he felt unable to fulfil the<br />
membership requirements on both sides<br />
of the Atlantic. As of right now, he is not<br />
a European Tour member and so is<br />
ineligible for a Ryder Cup in which he has<br />
twice represented Europe. However, still<br />
to reach his 40th birthday, a fully-fit<br />
Casey is confident enough to see himself<br />
as the leader of a new wave of British<br />
golfers – the likes of Danny Willett,<br />
Tommy Fleetwood, Eddie Pepperell and<br />
Russell Knox – that will likely challenge<br />
for major championships over the next<br />
decade and more. John Huggan caught<br />
up with an affable, honest and very open<br />
Casey at St Andrews during The Open.<br />
GW: You’ve made some obvious<br />
progress this year, but how close are you<br />
to where you were before your accident?<br />
PC: That’s a good question. But I’m not<br />
sure I can give you an honest answer.<br />
I don’t really want to measure myself<br />
against where I was before. I don’t want to<br />
say that I’m, say, 95 per cent of the player<br />
I was in 2009 or 2010. Because I’m older<br />
and hopefully better. Which is true. I do<br />
think I’m a better golfer now.<br />
In what ways are you better?<br />
I have a better understanding of my<br />
game and my body. I’m<br />
The relief and enjoyment on<br />
Casey’s face is obvious as he<br />
claims the 2014 KLM Open.<br />
fitter now than I’ve ever been, although I’m<br />
not quite as strong. Maybe there isn’t quite<br />
as much clubhead speed. But if you factor<br />
in understanding, experience, time<br />
management, I’m at least as good as I was,<br />
even if I’ve lost a few yards off the tee. So<br />
I prefer to look at where I am potentialwise.<br />
I still think I have another five to 10<br />
per cent to eke out.<br />
That is believable because you haven’t<br />
won yet at the highest level.<br />
Exactly. I’ve had a couple of second-places<br />
this year. Which is very good. But it hasn’t<br />
been spectacular. Not by the standard I<br />
reached before I was injured. I started the<br />
year not in the majors or the World Golf<br />
Championships. I’ve come a long way, but<br />
it’s unnerving not knowing your schedule.<br />
Is it fair to attribute your fall in the world<br />
rankings solely to your injury problems?<br />
There was a divorce in there, too, which<br />
was obviously upsetting. Emotionally, it is<br />
difficult. It does occupy the mind. But in<br />
time you get over it. The injury was more<br />
influential. It affected my physicality so it<br />
affected the way I swung the club and the<br />
way I hit the ball. I had no control, which<br />
made me fearful, even though I tried to<br />
play through it.<br />
What was the low point?<br />
I don’t have one particular moment or<br />
shot, but I remember withdrawing from<br />
the Players Championship a couple of<br />
years ago. I was just so scared. I was a<br />
physical and mental wreck.<br />
Were you panicking?<br />
If panic is worry and stress, then I was.<br />
It was difficult because my coach, Peter<br />
Kostis, couldn’t give me what he wanted<br />
to give me because I wasn’t right physically<br />
or mentally. That put him in a tough spot.<br />
He was giving me a lot of emotional<br />
support, but as far as my swing was<br />
concerned he had to keep it simple. It’s<br />
only in the last year that we have really<br />
been able to get back to the level of<br />
information I really need.<br />
I actually had a go at him earlier this<br />
year. We were talking about footwork and<br />
I got a bit upset and asked him why he<br />
hadn’t given me that particular piece of<br />
information before. He told me I didn’t<br />
need it because I wouldn’t have been able<br />
to do it even if I had wanted to. It<br />
was a fair point, but he didn’t take it<br />
well and it was a couple of days<br />
before we made up. I realised I had<br />
crossed the line. But we have<br />
known each other a long<br />
time so we got over it.<br />
November 2015 Golf World 39
44 Golf World November 2015
DANNY WILLETT<br />
BEST OF BRITISH<br />
“I’VE HAD TIMES<br />
WHEN I’VE WANTED<br />
AN ARM ROUND<br />
MY SHOULDER<br />
AND I’VE BEEN<br />
GIVEN A KICK UP<br />
THE BACKSIDE<br />
INSTEAD”<br />
Widely hailed as the Next Big Thing following his impressive performance at the<br />
2007 Walker Cup, Sheffield’s Danny Willett is now living up to his full potential<br />
with two victories in the past 10 months, writes John Huggan.
‘THERE ARE MANY GUYS<br />
OUT HERE WHO DON’T<br />
ENJOY TOURNAMENT<br />
GOLF. I’M THE OPPOSITE.<br />
PUT A CARD IN MY HAND<br />
AND I‘M RARING TO GO’
BEST OF BRITISH<br />
RUSSELL KNOX<br />
THE SHOT THAT<br />
CHANGED MY LIFE<br />
One flushed hybrid was the catalyst for a remarkable journey that took the Scotsman<br />
from the mini-tours in America to the PGA Tour in a matter of months.<br />
Just a few years ago, only the<br />
most dedicated golf fan would<br />
have noticed when a mysterious<br />
Scot without a single European<br />
or Challenge Tour start to his<br />
name won on the Web.Com Tour to<br />
earn his PGA Tour card for the 2012<br />
season. Russell Knox failed to retain his<br />
card in his rookie season and continued<br />
to fly under the radar as he split his time<br />
between the top two tiers of American<br />
golf in 2013. But when he finished 2nd<br />
in last year’s Honda Classic, onlookers<br />
on both sides of the Atlantic stood up<br />
and took notice.<br />
This season, Knox’s nine top 25s,<br />
including two third-place finishes, have<br />
established his status on the PGA Tour<br />
and launched him into the top 80 of the<br />
world rankings. The future is bright but<br />
perhaps wouldn’t even have been possible<br />
were it not for one stunning hybrid shot.<br />
Knox himself takes up the story…<br />
“I’d been playing the mini tours for<br />
three-and-a-half years and I was making<br />
a nice enough living, but I kept going to<br />
PGA Tour Qualifying School and<br />
failing miserably, even after playing well<br />
all year,” Knox says. “One day I said to<br />
my girlfriend at the time, ‘That’s it, I’m<br />
going to Monday qualify every week<br />
until I’m broke. If I don’t make it, I don’t<br />
make it. I’m fed up with mini-tour golf.’<br />
“In my first Monday qualifier for a<br />
Web.Com Tour event in 2011, I finished<br />
birdie-eagle to get into the tournament.<br />
I hit a hybrid on the last to two feet and<br />
finished second in the tournament. It<br />
was crazy how it happened. That was a<br />
huge turning point for me and my life<br />
could be very different if I hadn’t hit that<br />
hybrid so close. A couple of months later<br />
I won on the Web.Com and that got me<br />
onto the PGA Tour in 2012. It all<br />
happened super fast.<br />
“That was maybe why I struggled on<br />
my first year on tour. It was a blast on<br />
the mini tours. A buddy of mine, Kip,<br />
caddied for me and we drove everywhere.<br />
We put on some serious miles on my<br />
little Toyota hatchback and stayed in<br />
cheap motels. But the social scene was<br />
great. We weren’t playing for that much<br />
money so it was easy to make friends.<br />
Suddenly, a few months later, I was<br />
playing with my heroes on unfamiliar<br />
courses on the PGA Tour and it was very<br />
different – and difficult!<br />
“A lot of guys I played with on the mini<br />
tours are on the PGA Tour now. But<br />
there are also guys who did well but<br />
RANKINGS RECORD<br />
From the cusp of 1,000 to the brink of<br />
the top 50, Knox has enjoyed a rapid rise.<br />
79 300 600 963<br />
963<br />
308 328 245<br />
100<br />
79<br />
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015<br />
haven’t made it. There were so many<br />
guys who hit the ball way better than<br />
I do. And you do wonder why they don’t<br />
make it. But there is more to it and it<br />
just shows how difficult it really is.<br />
“I think you just know in your gut if<br />
you’re going to make it or not. I strongly<br />
believe there are many guys out here who<br />
truly don’t enjoy tournament golf. I’m<br />
the opposite. Whenever I get a card in<br />
my hand, I’m ready to go. I love being<br />
nervous. I swing a little faster and my<br />
ball flight changes. I love the competition<br />
and find it hard to play when it doesn’t<br />
mean anything. That separates a lot of<br />
people, I think.<br />
“I’ve won at all levels as a professional<br />
except the PGA Tour, so I know how to<br />
do it and how it feels. But it’s hard and<br />
I’m not going to force it. Everyone is so<br />
good. There are only a few guys who win<br />
with less than their best stuff. I need to<br />
putt a little better to win on the PGA<br />
Tour. From tee-to-green I’ve had a few<br />
weeks this year where I could have won<br />
had I putted better. I’d like to have a few<br />
wins five years from now and get into<br />
the majors consistently. I feel like my<br />
game is geared towards the hardest<br />
courses. I keep the ball in play, I can get<br />
it round and the mental side of my game<br />
is a strength. So it would be nice to sneak<br />
one of those.<br />
“Before I do that though, I need to<br />
start contending more in regular Tour<br />
events. I’m getting there; I’ve improved<br />
every year. If I keep doing that, things<br />
like wins, the Ryder Cup and majors<br />
should happen. Play well, and everything<br />
else takes care of itself.”
GOLF WORLD<br />
TEST<br />
MEASURING DEVICES<br />
The latest GPS devices from SkyCaddie, Garmin and GolfBuddy tested and compared.<br />
SKYCADDIE<br />
TOUCH<br />
£329.85<br />
GARMIN<br />
APPROACH<br />
G8 £329.99<br />
Ever since 1502, when James IV of Scotland<br />
commanded a local bow-maker to use his<br />
prized ash to whip him up a new set of sticks,<br />
golf has developed a habit of nabbing<br />
technology from the military. In recent times<br />
it’s been military-grade titanium for our drivers and<br />
missile-tracking systems for our launch monitors. But<br />
it’s also been the satellites, hoisted into orbit by the<br />
Americans at the height of Cold War paranoia to spy on<br />
their enemies – but now awarded the more agreeable duty<br />
of telling us if we can get home with an 8-iron.<br />
Growing interest in sat nav prompted the launch of<br />
some 24 further satellites between 1989 and 1994,<br />
adding to a revolving constellation now labelled the<br />
Global Positioning System. In 2000 civilians were<br />
granted the same levels of precision afforded the military<br />
– and within months, the first applications for golf were<br />
mooted. Founded in 1999 GolfLogix are believed to be
EQUIPMENT<br />
GOLFBUDDY<br />
PT4<br />
£299<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGUS MURRAY<br />
the first company to have brought out a handheld GPS<br />
device. SkyHawke, the company behind SkyCaddie,<br />
began developing devices in 2001, bringing their SG2 to<br />
market in 2003 – the same year GolfBuddy launched<br />
their GolfBuddy Plus. This was still some three years<br />
before golf’s ruling bodies commuted distancemeasuring<br />
devices from an outright ban to permissible<br />
under local rule.<br />
It is a measure of how far golf GPS has come that<br />
those early, pioneering devices now look so dated.<br />
Generally squat handheld units that gave you yardages<br />
to front, middle and back of the green, they have been<br />
continually upgraded for graphics and ease of use, with<br />
increasingly sophisticated course mapping permitting<br />
ever-more advanced features. The three leading handheld<br />
devices on trial here – Golf Buddy’s PT4, SkyCaddie’s<br />
Touch and Garmin’s G8 – all exemplify the rapid<br />
progress made by golf’s newest genre.
COURSES<br />
BRINGING YOU THE BEST PLACES TO PLAY EACH MONTH<br />
94 Golf World The Open Issue 2015
COURSES<br />
TOP 100<br />
RANK 73<br />
GB&I<br />
TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT<br />
Royal St David’s<br />
It may lack the drama of some of our other seaside stars, but Chris<br />
Bertram says you are unwise to underestimate this Welsh links.<br />
LEFT AND BELOW: The Snowdonia mountain range<br />
and Harlech Castle afford dramatic backdrops as you<br />
navigate the links of Royal St David’s.<br />
There are distinct phases to a visit<br />
to Royal St David’s. The initial<br />
experience is laced with intrigue<br />
and anticipation, emotions borne from<br />
a memorable arrival in the town of<br />
Harlech. Once on the links, your<br />
sentiments are more prosaic, cultivated<br />
by the challenge of a course touted as the<br />
world’s toughest par 69. It may feel a tired<br />
description, but it is founded in accuracy.<br />
It’s almost as if St David’s seduces you<br />
into relaxed complacency, only to bloody<br />
your nose and make off with your wallet.<br />
By reading this article you now have no<br />
excuse for being hijacked by her; yet first<br />
glimpse of this delicious linksland will<br />
still likely encourage some to fancy their<br />
chances with this relatively short exam.<br />
Most of Harlech is wedged seemingly<br />
precariously into a steep hillside<br />
overlooking the Gwynedd coastline and<br />
it is into this lofty location that you enter<br />
the town within Snowdonia National<br />
Park, picking your way along the kind of<br />
twisting coast road you only ever seem to<br />
travel along when homing in on a worldclass<br />
links. It is from here that you first<br />
catch a glance of the course, eliciting<br />
teenage-like excitement at glimpses<br />
between gaps in the hillside houses of the<br />
stellar linksland way down below.<br />
There then becomes an impatient<br />
urgency to your journey as you weave<br />
down the narrow lanes – including<br />
Ffordd Pen Llech, the UK’s steepest<br />
public road (40 per cent gradient) – that<br />
is akin to a descent in the Alps.<br />
If you can avert your eyes from the<br />
ribbons of sandy turf between pyramid<br />
dunes you will likely notice Harlech<br />
Castle. It is an imposing sight, dating<br />
back to 1283 and was once captured by<br />
Welsh revolutionary Owain Glyndwr<br />
before being regained by the army of<br />
Henry Tudor. Its bloody history only<br />
adds to the romance of the setting.<br />
Hunched down atop a spur of rock,<br />
the castle’s towering location is at once<br />
intimidating and puzzling, given it is half<br />
a mile from the sea. In fact, when it was<br />
built the Irish Sea lapped its foundations<br />
and it is due to changes in geology that it<br />
now finds itself inland.<br />
On land left behind by the retreating<br />
sea sits the links of Royal St David’s.<br />
Your journey here – the glimpses of the<br />
November 2015 Golf World 95