Paul Casey’s focus this week is LIV Golf UK as the JCB Golf and Country Club in Rocester, England, is less than 100 miles from Casey’s boyhood home in Cheltenham.
But the 2024 Paris Olympics got underway when thousands of Olympians cruised along the Seine River on Friday night. And that had Casey reminiscing about his appearance in the 2021 competition. The Brit was in the final group at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, about 35 miles northwest of downtown Tokyo. He trailed Xander Schauffele by just two heading into the final round, but Casey slipped down the board into a tie for third at the end. That forced a seven-way playoff with Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Mito Pereira, C.T. Pan and Sebastian Munoz.
Pan finally captured the bronze by edging Morikawa on the fourth playoff hole.
For Casey, the opportunity to take part in such a wild and iconic golf moment was a treasure — but it also still held some pain.
“Let’s focus on the hard bit of the playoff. To finish at the time tied third and then walk away with the Olympics with nothing is pretty sobering,” Casey said. “But it gave me an understanding of what it’s like for Olympic athletes to sort of have something that you’ve worked so hard for, in our case, four years, and then sometimes your Olympic experience is quite humbling. In our sport obviously very different, we play almost week in and week out.
“On the bright side, I’ve never been a part of anything like that, to represent your country at any level, and I’ve done it at an amateur level right through to professional. The Olympics ranks right up there as one of the greatest things I’ve ever done, taking the results out of that.”
Of course, the experience was odd in 2021 as the world was still suffering through a pandemic.
“That was a muted experience because it was Japan and it was COVID and we couldn’t stay longer than our event lasted so you couldn’t mingle the way you wanted to. Still, it was unbelievable,” Casey said.
Casey opened the LIV Golf UK event with a 67 on Friday and has played well of late, but he didn’t qualify for this year’s Olympics. In fact, since moving to LIV Golf, Casey has slipped to 681st in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was in the top 30 the last time the Olympics were played.
This year, Casey’s 2021 teammate Tommy Fleetwood will be joined by Matt Fitzpatrick.
“Tommy was everything you could ever want for in terms of another teammate. I know we don’t play as a team, but as another sort of … as my fellow Brit there on-site, and he and Matt this year, I think they’re going to be absolutely fantastic for Team GB,” Casey said. “Part of me is actually very jealous because it really was something amazing, and I think Tommy and Matt have got a great chance of winning a medal, so I wish them all the best, and I’ll be watching.”