Paul Casey admits he is hoping to put his injury troubles behind him in 2012 after a season of frustration this time around.
Englishman looking to get over injury problems in 2012
Paul Casey admits he is hoping to put his injury troubles behind him in 2012 after a season of frustration this time around.
Things started in encouraging fashion for the Englishman as he won the European Tour's Volvo Golf Champions event in Bahrain back in January, while another victory followed on the Korean Tour in October.
But in the intervening period, the 34-year-old was troubled by a lingering foot injury that was not properly diagnosed until later in the campaign.
His subsequent loss of form and fitness saw him fail to retain his PGA Tour card for next season and he concedes the injury cost him dear.
"It's been incredibly frustrating," he stated. "The trouble with the toe injury was that I didn't really know what was going on until it was too late.
"I picked it up in late May, battled through it and I didn't really get a full diagnosis until August. By then, it was too late to take a medical (exemption) so I tried to play through it and got into a lot of bad habits."
Casey revealed he ended up playing the majority of the season with a plate in his right shoe and his toes taped up, which only made matters worse.
Erratic golf
"It was a joint in my foot which wasn't allowing my foot to move correctly and that put pressure on my toe," he continued.
"What's interesting is that if I swing the club the way I should swing it, correctly and the way I used to swing it, the toe is fine.
"But those bad habits led to erratic golf. My weight got back on the heels and the club started to go up rather than around, very simply it was too steep.
"I need to do a better job of turning because I ended up hitting the ball with the hands and the arms this year a lot. I just need to put those things right."
Despite his problems, Casey maintains a positive outlook and believes he can still take encouragement from what was a tough 12 months.
"Well I've managed to win twice around the world, but not on the PGA Tour, and I've sort of clung on to a world ranking," said the Englishman who still sits at 21 in the world.
Positives
"I have dropped a bit but I am still ranked twenty-something and that's with playing very average golf for me. Touch wood, I can stay healthy and 2012 can be a great season for me.
"My very lofty goals I haven't yet achieved so they're going to be the same in 2012, and those will be the majors and World Golf (Championships) events.
"But I have other goals... winning tournaments, winning a certain number of world ranking points, making the Ryder Cup team, being back in the winner's circle on the PGA Tour."
Like so many of his peers, the prospect of Ryder Cup participation at the end of the year is a big motivation - for Casey even more so, as he failed to qualify in 2010.
"I am really hungry to get back on that team," he added.
"With the depth of talent that we've got in Europe, it's probably going to be the most difficult team to make since I've been on tour.
"But first things first, I need to win golf tournaments and get back on that team. And stay healthy."
