Can Paul Casey Land The Masters?

2011 started well for Paul Casey. A solid showing at the Abu Dhabi Championship, his favourite European tour event, was followed by victory at the maiden Volvo Golf Champions event, which ended a 20-month wait for a tournament victory.

That long gap between wins was a source of frustration for Casey, who retained consistency throughout 2010 without capitalising with a tour victory. He has seen Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald overtake him in the rankings, so he started this season as just one of the European challengers rather than the great European hope he once was and the US Masters odds reflect this.

The Volvo Champions victory has not been built on, Casey mixing disappointing performances at the Qatar Masters and WGC-Accenture Matchplay with unremarkable efforts at the Northern Trust Open and WGC-Cadillac Championship, where he was the only player to finish even. This neatly summed up his steady current form that will not be enough to challenge at Augusta.

Casey has generally done well at the Masters, claiming four top-20 finishes alongside two missed cuts. He was six shots off making the cut last year and will expect a vast improvement next month. He certainly has the length off the tee to prosper at Augusta, but he will need to improve his driving accuracy, for which he currently ranks 96th on the European tour.

The 2011 Masters is wide-open, as it is the first time in perhaps 15 years that neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson, winners of the green jacket seven times between them, will arrive in title-challenging form. Whether Casey can raise his game to capitalise is another matter.