'The Golf Crowd In The UK Are Starved For Golf, Plain And Simple' - Paul Casey Ahead Of LIV Golf Return To England
Paul Casey makes his first start of the year in the UK and admits the home fans are "starved" of top level golf
![Paul Casey hits a fairway wood shot](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YcChppr8xYGgeyRvSxssK7-415-80.jpg)
LIV Golf is back in the UK for the third consecutive year after its first ever event at the Centurion Club in June 2022.
The 54-hole circuit takes in JCB Golf and Country Club for the first time in what is set to be one of the circuit's standout events. The field includes the likes of US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau as well as LIV's other stars like Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka.
Paul Casey is one of those, with the veteran Englishman a winner of 15 European Tour titles through his career, where he made five Ryder Cup appearances.
Casey is happy to be back on home soil for the first time this year after not qualifying for The Open in Scotland last week, and he admits that the country is "starved" of golf compared to when he turned professional in the early 2000s.
"There's a huge appetite. As you know, golf in the UK is massive, one of the biggest golf markets in the world," Casey said ahead of the event, where grounds passes are sold out.
"Home game for me, which I'm very excited about, lots of friends and family coming up, even friends from up north coming down. I think we're going to have a lot of energy this week.
"I mean, the golf crowd in the UK are starved for golf, plain and simple. When I started playing it was six, seven professional events on various tours in the UK, and now there's a lot fewer than that. I'm expecting high energy, and they're going to have a wonderful time here at LIV UK."
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'Olympics ranks right up there as one of the greatest things I've ever done'
Casey also spoke about next week's Olympics, which he is missing out on after making his Team GB debut last time out in Tokyo. Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick will represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the 60-strong men's Olympic golf field.
The 47-year-old missed out on the bronze medal at Kasumigaseki Golf Club in a seven-man playoff and spoke of what the Olympics means to him as a golfer.
"I mean, let's focus on the hard bit of the playoff. To finish at the time tied third and then walk away with the Olympics with nothing is pretty sobering," he said.
"But it gave me an understanding of what it's like for Olympic athletes to sort of have something that you've worked so hard for, in our case, four years, and then sometimes your Olympic experience is quite humbling.
"In our sport obviously very different, we play almost week in and week out. On the bright side, I've never been a part of anything like that, to represent your country at any level, and I've done it at an amateur level right through to professional.
"The Olympics ranks right up there as one of the greatest things I've ever done, taking the results out of that. And that was a muted experience because it was Japan and it was COVID and we couldn't stay longer than our event lasted so you couldn't mingle the way you wanted to. Still, it was unbelievable.
"Tommy [Fleetwood] was everything you could ever want for in terms of another teammate. I know we don't play as a team, but as my fellow Brit there on-site, and he and Matt [Fitzpatrick] this year, I think they're going to be absolutely fantastic for Team GB.
"Part of me is actually very jealous because it really was something amazing, and I think Tommy and Matt have got a great chance of winning a medal, so I wish them all the best, and I'll be watching."
Casey currently ranks 13th in the LIV Golf League standings, with his Crushers GC side sitting second.
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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