LIV GOLF HONG KONG

March 10, 2024

Paul Casey

Hong Kong Golf Club

Crushers GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Paul Casey from Crushers GC. Well played this week. We'll start on the individual. Tied second here in Hong Kong. Can you sum up the week for us?

PAUL CASEY: Yeah, it was a really good week. I feel like I've been trending. Mayakoba was better than last year, and then Vegas was maybe fifth or something like that, going in the right direction. I struggled a bit last week, but I didn't have Johnny with me, my caddie, either. He didn't make it to Jeddah. He's back on the bag this week, then second.

Some great golf. I'm not going to measure it on the playoff hole, on one tee shot, something like that. It was a really good week.

Q. As a team, you brought your winning form from last week in Jeddah. Can you sum up the week in Hong Kong and the past couple of weeks on the road?

PAUL CASEY: Summing up the week for the team, so proud of my team. My team is awesome. Even though they're not here; they've all deserted me. I make my apologies for my team. Charles Howell has got a flight I think about 7:30 and so does Nicky's caddie, but I've got no idea where Bryson is. He's got no excuses.

Well, what a great group of guys. We've got something -- we spoke briefly about it after Jeddah, that we've got something that you can't measure, and I firmly believe that.

We're all very different in our approaches not only on how we play golf but how we prepare for the week and various things like that. There's not a lot of similarities or similar traits. But I think that's what's beautiful about it.

We spoke after we won the championship last year. I've had some experience with team golf. Bryson has been a bloody good captain, and I think part of being a good captain is letting guys do what they do best in order to -- go do what you need to do in order to play the best golf. He doesn't necessarily try to control us.

You get what you get. We've had some great results. Jeddah was obviously a shock. That was out of left field, the guys shooting 20-under par on Sunday was ridiculous. But even today. I don't think we were even on the leaderboard with nine holes to go. So proud of them.

Q. I think you started the day seven shots behind going into the final round. Was there a particular moment during the round when you felt the tide turning for the team?

PAUL CASEY: Honestly, I actually didn't look at the leaderboard. I was too busy playing with Brooks and Bryson. I was too busy trying to beat those two great players. Brooks dropped a couple of shots, but Bryson suddenly got going with his eagle on 13, and suddenly, uh-oh, here we go, classic Bryson. I just wanted to stay ahead of him. I was not paying any attention to the team element.

Normally I do -- that's not right. I was. I was actually hoping for a team playoff because we've not had one yet, and I still kind of want one. But I didn't think we were going to be a part of that. Saw Rippers and even Majesticks were up there, sort of third or fourth at one stage. So no, that was a shock, and I got my head down personally for the last few holes, so didn't pay attention to it.

Q. The good people of Hong Kong have really turned out in force this week. Can you describe the atmosphere throughout the week and what's the week been like?

PAUL CASEY: It's such a great city. I love this place. It's been a while since I've been here, having played a few Hong Kong Opens. Never played the golf course particularly well until this week. But what a city, and cities are made by its residents. They are fantastic people.

We've had a wonderful time this week. I'll say a massive thanks to everybody in Hong Kong but certainly the members of Hong Kong Golf Club. Peter Lam, I'll pick one person out for treating so many of us to some amazing food this week.

Yeah, an absolute joy. It was a buzz. This goes down as -- Adelaide is probably the one that we're all measuring things by, but Hong Kong should be very proud of themselves.

Q. Just to confirm, during the round today, you and Bryson never had any kind of conversation about how the team was doing, that hey, we've got a chance at this thing, that type of thing?

PAUL CASEY: I was more asking him why the hell we're wearing four different outfits as a team. We've all got the same shirts on, which we should have taken off and worn on the podium, but clearly we have a group chat, and clearly nobody chats to each other on our team.

Q. What happens between the end of a second round and the start of a third round, particularly these last two weeks with the team? Do you guys say anything? Does Bryson give you a pep talk? Is it just business as usual? What's the approach during that time?

PAUL CASEY: No, I won't -- it's usually like let's go get this, something to that effect, in various forms, on a group chat that we have. Something to that effect. Let's go take care of business tomorrow. That kind of thing goes around.

We've got a lot of encouragement within the team on an individual level, and I think that kind of takes care of the team element. If Charles plays well, everybody else, great playing, Charles. It just feeds itself. Nobody is singled out.

I know you look at -- Bryson gets all the attention, as he should. If I hit the golf ball like that, you'd give me more attention. But the rest of us don't -- actually it's quite nice because it takes the pressure off us to a certain degree. We kind of just float around underneath and do our thing. He's happy to take the attention.

I don't know if I've necessarily answered your question. I'll say we've got something. We keep encouraging each other, and that ends up being a great formula for the team success.

Q. Did you guys have any chat when it was announced that four scores were going to count on Sunday because obviously that seems to play into your favor?

PAUL CASEY: Yeah, my initial thought was I wasn't as sure, just on the basis of if there's an injury or illness, what happens; what are the logistics for that. My opinion was I wasn't necessarily sure of it when it was announced. But on the flipside if you can take that out of it and nobody gets sick or injured, that's awesome for us. It's almost unfair. We have the depth. We have the strength.

I feel like any one of us on the Crushers can win any given week on any given golf course.

Q. Take us through the playoff hole. What was going on after the tee shot?

PAUL CASEY: I was just trying to -- it's such a difficult tee shot. It's maybe the most difficult tee shot on this golf course and the most penal because either side you miss it left, you miss it right, you're blocked out by trees and a treacherous green with a lot of pitch to it.

As Abe showed, if you stick it in the middle of the fairway, you can be very aggressive. Birdie is still an unbelievable score on that hole.

Personally after just leaking the tee shot right, just trying to get it down to a nice yardage and be aggressive, which is what I did, I'm not measuring my week on one hole. It was a great week. Loved it. Very happy for Abe. Abe is an absolute sweetheart. Love him. Very happy for him to get a victory, and hopefully I'll get mine soon.

Q. The 16th hole, that birdie from the bunker, it was not just needed for you, it was needed also for the team, and you did that. That was some spectacular bunker shot --

PAUL CASEY: I was just focusing on myself there, in reality. One of my keys for this week, I had a great attitude, and yes, I was very aggressive on that second shot. It landed mere inches away from the cup, which was not where I was trying to land it. I was trying to land it about three paces short. But I was proud of how aggressive I hit that shot and the swing I made.

It was not that difficult a bunker shot, if I'm being honest. The grain was into me and it was quite flat, and the ball was maybe on a tiny bit of an upslope.

I actually didn't know the scores, so I knew it was close. It wasn't until I holed it and looked at the leaderboard and realized where I was. But it was still -- in fact, the week was great, but the round of golf today, maybe one of the best rounds of golf I've played in six months or a year.