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DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DP WORLD


December 9, 2011


Paul Casey


DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Q.  Tell us about a very satisfying day's work.
PAUL CASEY:  It was a very satisfying day's work.  I feel good about that.  I was bordering on doing a repeat of last week with the first round, the way I hit the ball yesterday.  And you know, I was thinking about the golf swing again, hit a few‑‑ it's not even desert out here, it's sort of wood chips they have laid down; so that will explain.  I missed the grass, which is a pretty good effort to do around here because it's pretty wide.
Then went to sort of a bit of a cute swing and ended up having a couple of birdies on the back nine and dragged it back to level par.  Went out today with the same swing, the cute swing, which I know I can get the ball in play.  Started firing at the pins and it's produced a lovely round of 6‑under.

Q.  And do you think that's put you in the mix here for the weekend?  Guys will probably go a bit lower already, but the mood would suggest you are ready to contend.
PAUL CASEY:  I am ready to contend, and it gets me near the mix.  Not sure I'll be in the mix by the end of the day, but the way Chippy is playing, Paul Lawrie, fantastic golf.  But the golf course is right there for the taking.  If you get the right side of the pins, leave yourself the easy putts, the greens are so good, especially with the short field we have got, there's no reason why you can't hole putts, and somebody will find a way of making lots of them over the weekend.
I don't know what kind of scores we'll see to win this event at the end of the week, but the way they are going, you've got to think it's going to be sort of high‑teens‑under par.
So you know, 6‑under today is just a start.  I'm going to have to probably shoot maybe a couple more of those if I want to have a chance this week.

Q.  If you had that kind of weekend, what's the potential in terms of how it would skew your year, and also how it would offer you a platform for next year.
PAUL CASEY:  It doesn't skew my year, win, lose or draw this week.  My year has been frustrating to say the least.
It makes Christmas a little bit nicer.  And it gives me a nice platform going ahead.  It would give me a lot of World Ranking points, a lot of Ryder Cup points, which is very important to try to get back in that team, and you know, I have to look forward.  This year, if I was to grade it, it would be a low grade.  But it's been‑‑ the injury, the turf toe affected my golf game way more than I thought it would.  And there's still remnants of that, even now.
So playing the golf I'm playing right now, knowing that I don't have the full repertoire of shots in the bag, I'm not firing on all cylinders, although I'm firing pretty good, it gives me a lot of confidence going into next year.
I think next year, touch wood, stay healthy, which is the most important thing, get the confidence back, there's no reason why I can't get back to the golf I played back in 2006 or early 2009, I guess it was, before I had the rib injury when I was third in the world.  There's no reason I didn't can't produce that form again.

Q.  What's your take on The Race to Dubai and what is proving to be a sort of climax to The European Tour season.  Do you take note of that or is that just something you don't concern yourself with?
PAUL CASEY:  Well, I'm out of the mix on that front, so for me, it's entertainment.

Q.  And it is entertaining, isn't it.
PAUL CASEY:  It is very entertaining.  Rory last week was brilliant.  I just saw that bunker shot for the first time that he holed out on 18 in Hong Kong to win the tournament by two.  It was a brilliant bunker shot, not an easy uphill lie.
You can see obviously the excitement but what it meant to him, and right now he's in control of his own destiny if he wins this week, and Luke doesn't finish a certain position, I believe ninth or something, then it's his.
It's exciting.  And I think ‑‑  I'm still a golf fan.  Even though I'm part of this, I would like to be the one that has a chance to win.  I'm still a golf fan and I enjoy watching good golf.  If it comes down to the final few holes where those guys are dueling it out, they are both good friends of mine, I'm not biased either way, there's cases for either one to say, well, either one is very deserving of the title.
Luke, to win the money title on both sides of the Atlantic would be an unbelievable feat, and Rory with his U.S. Open and the way he dusted everybody this year is fantastic, as well.  Either way, I don't care, I just want to see a great climax to the year.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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