THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 14, 2022

Paul Casey

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. You just mentioned 16; can you just talk about obviously a bad break.

PAUL CASEY: Oh, you need a little bit of luck sometimes, don't you? That wasn't very good luck, was it?

I mean, I still -- deep down I wanted to go for it out of that lie, but it felt too risky. I thought I could still make birdie, and then who knows what happens over the last two. Look what happened over the last hole.

It would have been brave, but maybe foolish to try to go for it. But it's a shame. It was the best drive I hit all day.

Q. We asked you this morning about this being a big moment in your career. When you look back at this, and I know it's still very, very fresh, but how does it hit? Do you feel like you had an opportunity that got away?

PAUL CASEY: No, I just played a really, really good round of golf in difficult conditions around Sawgrass. Shot 69 with maybe one bogey and some breaks that didn't go my way.

I mean, Cam played -- and then you have to tip your cap at Cam who played phenomenal golf. He won this tournament.

Q. How tough was it this week to sort of establish a rhythm for yourself?

PAUL CASEY: Near impossible, but that's kind of what we do. Very strange having the two days off, but clearly I got the good side of the draw, so that helped.

The rhythm, I think the last two days have taken their toll. It's just tough playing 27 holes each day. I don't particularly enjoy it.

Luckily I'm fit. My feet hurt, admittedly, but then I've got bad feet, so it's not the shoes, it's just my bad feet.

Yeah, rhythm is a thing, but the fact that I went bogey free yesterday and that sort of carried on into today, look, I'm clutching at straws.

Like I said, there's nothing really I would change. Certainly over the last three rounds of golf not a lot I'd change.

Q. In your mind when you get to Tampa, what's the highlight of this week?

PAUL CASEY: I don't know. I haven't thought about it yet. Really happy for Shannon being on the bag this week. Shannon struggled with getting the bag he wants, and he was brilliant on the bag.

I don't compare people to Johnny. That's unfair. I don't compare caddies. Everybody is different. But Shannon is a damn good caddie.

When sometimes -- it sounds silly, doesn't it, but you know the life out here for some of the caddies. When work is sparse, it's very nice to make a big check and give a big percentage of that to the guy standing next to you.

Q. Did it feel good today to have just one full day of gold you could play sort of uninterruptedly?

PAUL CASEY: No, because it was still a restart. I'm looking forward to just a tee time and just playing 18 holes.