Wednesday 1 April 2015 20:23, UK
Paul Casey is back at Augusta where new Asian star Anirban Lahiri will be making his Masters debut in two weeks’ time.
It was also announced on Tuesday that American Streve Stricker is fit again and will be playing in the Masters.
Casey plans a trip to Augusta National before going to Indianapolis to watch Wisconsin play Kentucky on Saturday in the Final Four.
Casey has earned his first trip to The Masters in three years after returning to the world’s top 50.
The world No 48 has enjoyed a resurgence in form during the past year that has seen the three-time Ryder Cup player win in the Netherlands last September, as well as post a brace of top-three finishes on the PGA Tour during the early months of 2015.
The 37-year-old has a decent Masters record with four top-20 finishes from seven starts and a best of tied-6th on his 2004 debut.
A 13-time winner on the European Tour, Casey reached a career-high No 3 in 2009 before enduring over two years of fitness problems.
India’s Lahri is one of the new kids on the block having won twice of the European Tour during the past couple of months.
The world No 33 has played just one Major championship in the States – last year’s PGA Championship where he missed the cut – and he will be joined in Georgia by Austrian Bernd Wiesberger who is also making his Augusta National debut.
Wiesberger, a two-time Euro Tour champion, is No 42 in the latest ranking.
It is good news for Stricker who is planning to return having recovered from back surgery.
He has not played since the Hero World Challenge in early December and had surgery two days before Christmas on a bulging disk in his lower back that was causing recurring hip problems.
Stricker recently returned from a week in Naples in Florida to ensure he was fit.
