Paul Casey has power to master Augusta

Paul Casey's victory in the Shell Houston Open on Sunday did more than enable the Englishman to leap from twelfth to sixth in the world rankings. And it did more than allow him to demonstrate that with his power and the way he hits the ball so high, he should now go on and win a few more times in the United States.
More than Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and perhaps more than Justin Rose, Casey has the raw power to take on the backbreakingly long courses the professionals play these days.
By winning on the PGA Tour in the US for the first time, Casey surely has laid to rest once and for all the ghosts of the remarks about “properly hating” Americans that he made in November 2004, remarks that have haunted him since. Of all the Europeans, Casey is perhaps the most American, the one most at home in this country, where he lives most of the year with Jocelyn, his American wife, whom he married late last year, and is coached by Peter Kostis, an American.
“I've lived here for 12 years. I am very comfortable here,” Casey said yesterday. “For me that chapter is done. It is closed. All I have about America are good feelings.”
Casey arrived at Augusta National late yesterday to prepare for his fifth Masters, one for which he will now begin as a favourite as a result of his success in Texas. Initially, he asked Craig Connelly, his caddie, to get his clubs ready for a session on the range.
Then Casey changed his mind about practising. He saw an umbrella being blown over and decided that after four days of wind in Houston he did not need to practise in it in Augusta as well.
The victory was obviously a very emotional one. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he was interviewed on US television on Sunday night. “I'm not sure how I can explain how it feels yet,” he said. “It's a little bit like how my first win in Europe felt, which I can remember very vividly. First win in Europe, first Ryder Cup experience, and now first PGA Tour win. Three fairly major events in my life, in my golfing life. I think I need to give it a couple days to let this one sink in.”
Less than one day later, Casey was still not able to express himself as well as he would have liked. “This was something I have wanted for some time and I think perhaps I have wanted it too much,” he said. “I have felt good enough to be able to win in the US. I am not arrogant enough to say I am going to win. I think that is why I was so emotional. I wanted it so much. I do cry quite a lot, though I didn't cry at my wedding.”
Casey became the sixth Englishman to win a tournament in the US following in the footsteps of Tony Jacklin, Peter Oosterhuis, Lee Westwood, Nick Faldo and Luke Donald. His victory was a reminder of just how much English golf has improved since 2001 when Westwood was the only golfer from that country in the top 100. Now there are seven in the top 50, Casey being joined by Westwood, Rose, Donald, Poulter, Oliver Wilson and Ross Fisher.
“I think I'm finally getting to the stage where I'm starting to have belief in myself,” Casey said. “I was twelfth in the world coming into this week and now I am sixth. It's time to start believing that maybe I can be in the top five. I don't worry about prize money and that sort of thing. I look at the world ranking points. They tend to be a better barometer of how I am playing.”
Gary Player will play his 52nd and final Masters this week. Player, 73, from South Africa, first played at Augusta in 1957, aged 21, won for the first time in 1961 and collected two more Green Jackets in 1974 and 1978.
Source:the times