Paul Casey, Fresh Off a Win, Talks Masters
April 7, 2009 – 8:30 am by Will Brinson
Paul Casey won in a playoff against J.B. Holmes at the Shell Houston Open last weekend, giving him some nice momentum heading into the Masters this week. The young, unflappable Brit might not be the favorite certainly (that would be some fella named Woods) but he’ll be a hot name in the mid-levels of most Masters pools.
And he joined the guys at 790 the Zone in Atlanta to talk about the upcoming Masters tournament, as well as how he handles himself on the final day of a tournament, what’s in his bag and the conditions in Augusta. Also, he makes some cracks about attractive ladies at Arizona State and talks about the whole Ryder Cup experience, as well as losing to the Americans this year.
On playing in the Masters and dealing with the greens:
“That is the thing about Augusta, it’s a beautiful place, it is the most special place we get to play golf. And Andrews is obviously the home of golf and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I get to play there. But there’s something very, very special about Augusta National. We’re back there every single year and those greens you slowly get to learn them; the guys who come back year after year you get to learn the greens and the places where to hit it and where not to hit and ultimately that’s what it comes down to. The golf course is set up truly brilliantly, and they have this system down there called the sub-s system where they can suck moisture out of the greens relatively quickly or soften them up pretty quickly. And they control it brilliantly. And they always believe at Augusta National that great golf shots should be rewarded; good golf shots are not good enough. And if you’ve got the coconuts and you want to take those great golf shots on and you pull them off, you can be rewarded with some pretty straight forward birdie putts but you’ve really got to have the ability and the cojones to go for it, so to speak.”
On the conditions at Augusta right now:
“Today it was very, very windy. It was freezing cold. And hopefully the weather looks like it will blow through before we kick off on Thursday and the place looks stellar.”
Casey on his favorite hole at Augusta and the full interview after the jump.
Of all the holes at Augusta is there anyone that’s your favorite?
“Let me give you two. First of all, the first hole is probably the most difficult hole we play in professional golf. Very underrated golf hole. You make par on that hole and I truly believe already a half a stroke up on the rest of the field … The green’s impossible, it’s very, very long and fast. The bunker on the right is very, very deep and you go in there and you’re going to struggle to reach the green …Favorite hole? I don’t know, I can’t pick one. Amen Corner is just something special. Every time I walk down the 11th fairway and I see 11 green and 12 and 13 tee, I giggle … I mean, what a place, it’s cool.”
Listen to Paul Casey on 790 the Zone
Tags: Golf, Houston Shell Open, Masters, Paul Casey
