Paul Casey: I feel like I need emotional support after playing that golf course

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Casey ended the US PGA Championship at Bethpage with a final round of 69
Posted on
May 19, 2019
by
The Editorial Team in
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Paul Casey carded a closing 69 in the US PGA Championship (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Paul Casey carded a closing 69 in the US PGA Championship (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Paul Casey admitted he felt in need of some emotional support after ending a tough week at the US PGA Championship by predicting Brooks Koepka would face a battle before successfully defending his title.

Casey saved his best until last at Bethpage with a final round of 69 leaving him on five over par, 17 shots behind runaway leader Koepka, who took a tournament-record seven-shot lead into the last day.

โ€œThereโ€™s a dog beside the 18th green with a little jacket on that says โ€˜Emotional Support Dogโ€™ which is what I feel like I need after playing that golf course,โ€ Casey said with a smile. โ€œItโ€™s so difficult.

โ€œIts reputation is true, plain and simple. This place exaggerates any error that you make. It just gets to the point where youโ€™re just trying to get out of here.

What Brooks is doing so far is unbelievable. I think heโ€™ll win but itโ€™s going to be a really tough golf course today.โ€

Koepka had followed a course record of 63 on Thursday with a second round of 65 to set the lowest halfway total in major championship history.

He maintained his lead over world number one Dustin Johnson, Harold Varner, Luke List and Jazz Janewattananond with a third round of 70.

The 29-year-old American is 67 under par in majors since the start of the 2016 US PGA, 26 shots better than any other player during that span, and is seeking a remarkable fourth major victory in his last eight starts.

With the US PGA moving from August to May this year, Koepka can also become the first player to hold back-to-back titles in two majors at the same time following his US Open wins in 2017 and 2018.


โ€œI read that he was taking a leaf out of Jack Nicklausโ€™s book about how half the field will not play well and heโ€™s only got to beat a certain number of guys at a major, and heโ€™s right, and he backs it up, as well,โ€ Casey added.

โ€œHeโ€™s that good. His ability is that good and he believes in it and heโ€™s got the confidence.โ€

The best score from the early starters was a 68 from American Beau Hossler, with Northern Irelandโ€™s Graeme McDowell having to settle for a 70 after covering the front nine in 33.

โ€œMy game feels good, it really does,โ€ said McDowell, who will return to the scene of his 2010 US Open triumph next month when the championship returns to Pebble Beach. โ€œIโ€™m trying not to get too destroyed by this golf course.

Graeme McDowell carded a final round of 70 in the US PGA Championship (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Graeme McDowell carded a final round of 70 in the US PGA Championship (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

โ€œThis is not a golf course that I would pick for me in a major championship and Pebble Beach is a golf course that I would pick for me.

โ€œIโ€™ve got Colonial next week which is going to feel like a pitch-and-putt by comparison, then the Canadian Open. I have some great stuff ahead of me. Iโ€™m feeling a bit bruised and battered but I have to say, the game is OK and Iโ€™m looking forward to the next few weeks.โ€

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