Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of the world’s top two professional golf tours, the U.S. based PGA Tour and the European Tour.

Career
Casey was born in Cheltenham, but moved to Weybridge at the age of six. After attending Cleves School, Weybridge and then Hampton School, he took a golf scholarship at Arizona State University (one of an increasing number of young British golfers taking tertiary scholarships in the USA as sports scholarships are not part of the British university system). His amateur career was distinguished. In the U.S. he was the first man to win three consecutive Pac-10 Championships (1998, 1999 and 2000). In 2000 he broke the championship scoring record held by Tiger Woods (18 under par) with a 23 under par 265. Back on the other side of the Atlantic he won the English Amateur Championship in 1999 and 2000. He was also a member of Great Britain and Ireland’s winning 1999 Walker Cup team, where he was only the third player in seventy seven years to record four victories without a single defeat.

Casey joined the European Tour in May 2001 and recorded a second in his fifth event and a win in his eleventh, the Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship, ending that season 22nd on the order of merit and collecting the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. After a disappointing second season he won the ANZ Championship and the Benson and Hedges International Open in 2003, and came sixth on the Order of Merit.

Casey didn’t win any individual titles in 2004, but he was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and also won the WGC-World Cup for England in partnership with Luke Donald. Another highlight of his year was a sixth place finish in his first Masters. He joined the PGA Tour shortly afterwards as a Special Temporary Member and his membership of the 2004 European Ryder Cup Team qualified him for membership of the U.S. based tour for the 2005 season. However he continues to play mainly in Europe, and was the leader of the European Tour Order of Merit in 2006, until Padraig Harrington overtook him in the final event.

Casey has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings and was the highest ranked Englishman for a time. In January 2007 he reached a career high of thirteenth in the rankings.

In 2006, Casey won the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, beating Shaun Micheel 10 and 8 in a record victory for the final.

Casey became the only player in Ryder Cup history to win a foursome match with a hole-in-one on Saturday 23rd September 2006 in Ireland.

Anti-American comment
Prior to the November 2005 World Cup, Casey, speaking of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, told the The Sunday Times, “Oh, we properly hate them. We wanted to beat them as badly as possible.” He also spoke disparagingly of Americans in general, “the vast majority of [whom] simply don’t know what’s going on.” The Daily Mirror tabloid newspaper later ran a headline which simplified Casey’s statement as “Americans are stupid. I hate them.” leading golf equipment company Titleist to end his sponsorship. He later criticized the Mirror for incorrectly quoting him and for damaging his livelihood.

Amateur wins
1998 Pac-10 Championship
1999 English Amateur Championship, Pac-10 Championship
2000 English Amateur Championship, Pac-10 Championship

Professional wins
European Tour (8)

2001 (1) Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship
2003 (2) ANZ Championship, Benson & Hedges International Open
2005 (1) TCL Classic
2006 (3) Volvo China Open (2005 calendar year, 2006 European Tour season), Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, HSBC World Match Play Championship
2007 (1) Abu Dhabi Golf Championship

Team appearances
Amateur

Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1999 (winner)
Eisenhower Trophy (representing England): 2000
St Andrews Trophy: 2000

Professional
Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners)
WGC-World Cup (representing England): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 (winner, with Luke Donald)
Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2002 (winners), 2003 (winners), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners)