Casey In A Cakewalk

I’m must have been sleepwalking yesterday because I forgot to mention that Paul (The Mouth) Casey won the HSBC World Match Play Championships by absolutely trouncing Shaun Micheel, 10 and 8. For newbies, that’s 10 holes UP with 8 holes left in the match. That kind of score is almost unheard of in the professional ranks, and even more so in an event like this where it’s packed with great players.

I watched part of the replay on the Golf Channel and it was the best and the worst of what a player might go through during a match. Casey was tracking all the pins with laser-like accuracy while Micheel couldn’t get out of his own way. Even when Casey bogeyed, Micheel would double-bogey.

And then there was Micheel berating his caddie for allegedly giving him a bum yardage on the 16th hole and was overheard saying, “Take the rest of the year off, after the sh*t you gave me back there ” And when they got to the 17th tee, Micheel said: “Don’t say another word to me all day.” Micheel then proceeded to hit his tee shot into the trees, and his caddy wouldn’t have been wrong in saying, “Make a great pair don’t we? I can’t caddie, and you can’t play.”

While this kind of boorish behavior is not unusual for professional golfers, I am somewhat surprised that it came from Micheel, because he just doesn’t seem the arrogant type. Of course, maybe hanging around Casey all day might have had that effect.