Keep an eye on Casey; his superstardom is coming

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Paul Casey grabs your attention at almost every big tournament, but he's still awaiting that elusive first TOUR win.

A putt here. A chip there.

A brain blip. A where-did-that-come-from moment.

That was the difference Sunday. The not-so-fine line -- this time at least -- that separated him from shaking that "in-waiting" tag and stepping up to honest-to-goodness superstar; from giving it a run down the stretch to being closed out with three holes to go.

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Oh, we're not saying anything Paul Casey hasn't said to himself these last few days. He took another step in the right direction, but wobbled a tad more than these big events allow. And that has to stop if he wants to lose the "in-waiting" part of the superstar tag that's hanging around his neck.

A bit messy was fine in Abu Dhabi, where he picked up the ninth win of his career. Not so fine at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he lost 4 and 3 to his Whisper Rock buddy Geoff Ogilvy.

Yet we come not to beat up on the 31-year-old Englishman, but to make sure he's more than just a blip on your radar screen.

We offered a similar reminder about Ogilvy a month or so ago. He's gone from 12th in the world at the end of last year to fourth with an eye on Augusta.

And Casey? At the start of the year, he was worried about staying in the world's top 50 -- he was 41st. Now, he's 13th, and if he can spiff up that short game, he'll be elbowing his way into the world's top 10.

You should be used to seeing his name now. Especially at majors.

You just likely don't know much about him. He's always buried deep in conversations that are built around Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim and Justin Rose. But he shouldn't be.

We think back to last June when he was telling stories on the putting green at Torrey Pines. It was a Cliff's Notes lesson on then-amateur Gary Wolstenholme and Casey was wound up, laughing and punctuating punch lines with that big smile.

Casey has a dry sense of humor, which showed itself last fall when he made a big putt and Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo, in the television booth for CBS, said if Casey made the putt, he would be on the Ryder Cup team. Casey's reaction?

"We've got that on tape,'' he grinned, "and my lawyers will have a field day."

Casey's tongue is always firmly planted in his cheek, and the lines come hard and fast, but he's not the jerk he appeared to be in 2004 when he was killed by an over-the-top headline in the Daily Mirror. Something about Americans being stupid and hating them.

The headline was never supported in the story, but Casey paid for it nonetheless -- with a lost contract and a playing slump. Today, it's simply an oh-by-the-way. More people, in fact, start his highlight reel with that walk-off ace at the Ryder Cup at the K Club.

Casey isn't the least bit quiet or shy. He loves muscle cars and drives a BMW M5. He's honest, sometimes to a fault. He's played on three Ryder Cup teams but knows there's much more in store. Perhaps in 2009.

The win in Abu Dhabi was a start. And even if he hadn't gotten a bit messy in the opening 18 holes Sunday? Ogilvy was playing so well, he was so focused -- even through a mess or two of his own -- that Casey could have eliminated all those oops and still lost.

Casey worked hard on conditioning in the offseason, and there's no doubt that longtime -- and outspoken -- coach Peter Kostis will most certainly have some things to say about the wobbly bits in his short game. Yet there are two other reasons for Casey's solid start -- he married girlfriend Jocelyn Hefner in the offseason and rehired longtime caddie Craig Connolly, who he fired last June.

Which brings us back to the course.

The story line that follows Casey these days isn't so much the majors. It's that he has yet to win in the U.S. as a pro. He played college golf for Arizona State -- he still lives in the Phoenix area -- and he was the first player to win three consecutive Pac-10 individual titles. He won two English Amateurs and played on a Walker Cup.

What makes you take note now aren't the nine European titles -- they help -- but his major record. He has eight top-20 finishes at the big four in his last 19 tries. Last year alone, he tied for 11th at the Masters, tied for seventh at the brutal Open Championship at Birkdale and tied for 15th at the PGA. Casey, who plays both the PGA TOUR and European Tour, broke through in the U.S. last year, finishing 74th in last year's FexExCup standings. His best finishes were ties for seventh at the Open and The Barclays.

This runner-up finish comes on the heels of a tie for fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic and, well, that second win in Abu Dhabi. Coming up? There's another World Golf Championships event -- the CA Championship -- in just a few weeks, then the lead-up to the Masters, where he has finished ties for sixth, tied for 10th and ties for 11th in four tries.

That's plenty of time to find a way to spiff up the putting and refocus his mind. And plenty of time to add him to your watch list.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.