Paul Casey profits from his local knowledge

Watching Paul Casey move to the front of the pack in the second round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth yesterday, it was hard to believe that there was a time when he sprayed the ball so far and wide over the famous West Course that he feared for the safety of the spectators.
Casey moved to eight under par after a round of 67 that was matched by only one other player, Thomas Aiken, of South Africa, and will go into the weekend with a two-shot lead over Miguel Ángel Jiménez, the defending champion, David Horsey, Anthony Wall, Marc Warren and Soren Kjeldsen.
While he admitted that he would have happily taken such a lead if offered it at the start of the day, Casey was right to feel slightly disappointed that he had not driven home the advantage after opening up a four-shot lead at the par-four 13th with his second eagle of the day — his nine-iron shot from 160 yards landing five feet short of the flag and going in on the bounce.
He made heavy weather of the closing stretch, however, giving back shots at the 14th and 17th, where he found trees off the tee, but he did well to get down in two from a greenside bunker at the last to save his par. He reached the turn in 32 and came home in 35.
This is a course that once intimidated the English Ryder Cup player, but he won the World Match Play Championship there in 2006 — and with it a princely sum of £1 million — and is now as at home as anyone.
He played the West Course many times as a junior, when he would occasionally “sneak in” with friends who were members, and has learnt to plot his way around what is a demanding layout.
At the start of the year, Casey sat down with his coach, Peter Kostis, and wrote down his goals for the year. “They were fairly lofty,” he said. “So I haven’t had to redo them.”
It would be true to say that at 31, and after nine years on tour, he has come of age. By his own admission he is a streaky player and Casey has sought to add consistency and a little more steel to his game.
He did not bag a title in 2008, but has won twice this year already. His first win came at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January, his second at the Shell Houston Open last month, which was his breakthrough victory in America. He also put in a fine performance at the Accenture Match Play Championship, a world championship event, in Tucson where he finished runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy.
It is no coincidence that Casey has moved to No 7 in the world and is lying second in the standings in the Race to Dubai. The first prize here of just under £670,000 would take him to the top of the standings and confirm his place among the game’s elite.
Jiménez is another player who seems to have learnt the secrets of a course that only a few can master. An ever-present on the European Tour since his rookie season in 1989, the Spaniard shows no sign of letting up. At 45, he is not as long off the tee as many of the game’s young bucks, but around Wentworth he knows that guile, as much as strength, is important.
“Here it is all about shaping the ball,” he said after a round of 70 that placed him nicely to challenge over the final two rounds.
Horsey and Wall, the joint first-round leaders, each had rounds of 71, while Ernie Els — responsible for much of the recent remodelling of the course and about to embark on a rebuild of all the greens — needed a birdie at the last to make the cut and duly got it.
Among those to miss out were Lee Westwood, who finished on ten over par, and Henrik Stenson, winner of The Players Championship this month.
Source: The times