The return of Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera’s Masters win and the rise of Rory McIlroy as the future global are among the top stories so far this year.
All this while, England’s Paul Casey has been quietly, efficiently and stealthily slipping under the radar. But after his victory at the BMW PGA Championship, it will be a bit more difficult for Casey to go unnoticed.
After all, the triumph, his third of the year, boosted him to number three in the world rankings. At the start of the year, he was 41 in the world.
Casey fired a closing four-under-par 68 for a total of 271 and a one-stroke victory in the European Tour event over local favourite Ross Fisher at Wentworth, Virginia Water in England. Fisher had threatened to take the event into a play-off but his fantastic 64 fell just short.
The 31-year-old Casey had already won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and Shell Houston Open this year, as well as finishing runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy in the World Match Play Championship in Arizona.
He joins players such as Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer as PGA Championship winners after holing a curling four-footer for victory. He said in an AP article:
“This feels great. All the great names are on this trophy, and I wanted to be there as well. It’s nice to be part of that history. It’s quite strange thinking I used to stand there listening to the sound of the golf ball off the club whistle past your head, and now I’m on the other side of the ropes.â€
Soren Kjeldsen closed with a 69 for third place at 275 while one stroke behind was Stephen Dodd, who finished with 67. McIlroy finished fifth after his 71.
On the US PGA Tour, South African Rory Sabbatini fulfilled a lifelong wish when he won the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.
Sabbatini had always wanted to have his name on the famous trophy in the tournament named after the legendary golfer. His closing round of 64 enabled him to do so with his total of 19-under-par 261, a record for the tournament, giving him a two-stroke victory over Brian Davis.
Davis also closed with 64 with DA Points finishing third on 264 after his final round of 65. Scott McCarron (62) and Dustin Johnson (66) tied for fourth on 265.
Sabbatini was a wearing pink shirt in solidarity with Amy Mickelson, the wife of top American golfer Phil Mickelson who recently announced he has stopped playing to help his spouse battle breast cancer. He said:
“Obviously this tournament is very special. It’s one that I wish I had have been able to win it and look up and see Byron sitting there at the 18th green. What a wonderful name to be associated with now.â€