Daily Wrap-up, Sunday: Shell Houston Open
HUMBLE, Texas (AP) -- Paul Casey finally considers himself one of the world's top golfers, just in time for the Masters.
Casey won the Shell Houston Open on Sunday for his first PGA TOUR victory, defeating J.B. Holmes with a bogey on the first playoff hole. The 31-year-old Englishman has nine international victories since 2001 but had never won in the United States. The victory boosted Casey from 31st in FedExCup points to sixth and from No. 12 to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings -- a career high.
"It's time to start believing I can be a top 10 player in the world and maybe I can be in the top five," Casey said. "We'll see when we get there. Clearly, I just took a little while to sort of get used to things and feel comfortable. Now, I feel comfortable out here."
Holmes needed a win to earn a trip to next week's Masters and is the only player from last year's Ryder Cup who failed to qualify.
Casey bogeyed the 18th hole in regulation to complete a 72 and tie Holmes at 11 under. Holmes wrapped up a 69 almost three hours before Casey finished.
The players met on the tee of the 488-yard 18th, the most difficult of the tournament with an average score of 4.336.
Holmes hooked his tee shot into the pond that lines the hole, admitting that the long wait threw him off.
"It was rough," Holmes said. "I posted that three hours before they were done. That was an advantage I thought I had, but when you get into a playoff after waiting three hours, it turns out to be a bit of a disadvantage. I hit a bad shot and didn't deserve to win."
Casey then drove into the fairway bunker on the right side and hit a safe layup to the front of the green. Holmes reached the green with his fourth shot, then missed a long bogey putt. Casey two-putted from 27 feet to secure the win.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
'SOFTIE' CASEY EARNS FIRST TOUR VICTORY THE HARD WAY
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
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HUMBLE, Texas -- He calls himself a softie.
Cries at "Bambi." Tears flow when he watches rubbish -- his word -- movies.
And the few times he's gotten emotional on the golf course? Usually, he chuckled, had nothing to do with soft and cuddly or anything resembling joy.
Until Sunday.
Paul Casey got choked up big-time when he tried to put the day -- and his first PGA TOUR win -- into perspective.
"Do you have an easy question?" he grinned?
The Englishman known as much for his warped sense of humor as his need for warp-speed in his BMW M5 was at a loss for words.
He threw the Shell Houston Open into his schedule because he heard the course might suit his game and it was a great run-up to next week's Masters. He kept his head down and played his own game on this windy, stop-and-start week, and when he found things getting a tad messy at crunch time, he pulled it together, went into sensible mode and beat J.B, Holmes in a wind-blown one-hole playoff.
Holmes, who had to wait nearly three hours after finishing his round, had yanked his tee shot in the water, and all Casey had to do was play it safe. Nice 3-wood off the tee, a little short on the second shot. A nice par that followed the bogey on the same hole that forced the playoff in the first place.
"Should have hit that pitch shot harder in the playoff,'' said Casey, the first European to win the Shell Houston Open. "Would have been nicer. I don't know. Fairly anticlimactic wasn't it? I was sort of wanting a fist pump or a jump in the air or something.
"Couldn't really do it with a tap-in.''
So, he choked back the tears. Then flashed that wide, cracking grin of his.
This one could open the flood gates.
To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| Five other notables at Shell Houston Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5, 566-yard 4th was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.615.
The par-4, 488-yard 18th was the toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 5.103.
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Charles Howell nearly holed out for eagle on the par-4 17th during the final round of the Shell Houston Open. 
Hunter Mahan had one of just four rounds in the 60s on Sunday -- a 68 that moved him to a T6 finish. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Mark Carnevale offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
What a way to get your first PGA TOUR Victory. Paul Casey got his in a one-hole playoff with J.B. Holmes. It has been a long time coming for the Englishman, who has won all around the world but never before on the PGA TOUR.
Casey held it together down the stretch, even though he bogeyed his final hole, forcing the playoff. The key to his round were two up-and-downs from bunkers on the ninth and 14th holes. The one at No. 9 was spectacular: His tee shot ended up close to the back lip of a left, greenside bunker. I was actually giving odds as to whether or not he could get it out of the bunker. Instead, he played a marvelous shot from about 30 yards to 11 feet and then converted his par. He also got it up and down from a left greenside bunker at No. 14 to keep his one-shot lead heading to the final four holes. Despite only converting four of 11 sand save opportunities, two could not have come at a better time. Congrats Paul Casey, job well done.
It was a disappointing finish for Fred Couples, as he held the lead with three holes remaining in his round, but three consecutive bogeys left Fred at 9 under. Well played for Fred, who had the Houstonians emitting loud roars throughout the course, but he was unable to win his second Shell Houston Open.
It has been a very long week for the players here in Houston, along with the volunteers and spectators. What a show the best in the world put on, though, under difficult playing conditions, but we "got 'er done." Kudos to the sponsor, Shell Oil, and all those involved. Now, on to Augusta and the Masters. There will be no Cinderella story this year, as Casey had already qualified for the Masters.
| What the top finishers said... | ||||||||||||||||
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| Read full interview transcripts | |||
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| Live Essentials | ||||
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FINAL-ROUND NOTEBOOK: SHELL HOUSTON OPEN
By Mark Williams, PGA TOUR Staff
HUMBLE, Texas -- Paul Casey won the 2009 Shell Houston Open on the first playoff hole with a bogey over J.B. Holmes for his first career PGA TOUR victory.
• The third round began at 3:10 p.m. Saturday off the first and 10th tees. Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:34 p.m. Saturday with 73 players still on the course. The third-round resumed at 7:34 a.m. Sunday and was completed at 10:30 a.m. Pairings remained the same and tee times for the final round were 9:30-11:40 a.m. Sunday.
• The six-way tie for the 54-hole lead was the most since the TOUR started keeping this statistic dating back to 1970. Of those players tied for the lead through 54 holes, only eventual winner Paul Casey shot par or better in the final round. Casey closed with a 72, while Fred Couples had a 74 to tie for third, Geoff Ogilvy had a 75 to tie for sixth, Ryan Moore had a 76 to tie for 11th, Bo Van Pelt had a 78 to tie for 19th, and Colt Knost had an 81 to tie for 42nd.
• The Tournament Course at Redstone played to a scoring average of 72.202 for the week. The scoring average in Round 1 was 71.965, in Round 2 was 71.907, in Round 3 was 70.595 and in Round 4 was 74.795.
• His win moves Casey into the top 10 at sixth in FedExCup standings with just three events played on the PGA TOUR in 2009. Ogilvy's tie for sixth is his third top-10 finish of the season. Ogilvy earned 86 points FedExCup points, giving him 1290 on the season and extending his lead in the FedExCup standings by 137 points over Phil Mickelson.
• Couples, who was one of those tied for the third-round lead, recorded his sixth top-10 finish at the Shell Houston Open with a tie for third after finishing last year tied for fourth and his 12th top-25 finish at this event. Couples made his 16th consecutive cut at the Shell Houston Open dating back to 1983. The tie for third matches his tie for third earlier this year at the Northern Trust Open.
• To read the remainder of the Round 2 notes, click here. To read the remainder of the Round 3 notes, click here.
KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Shell Houston Open.
The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 488-yard par-4 18th.
Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.
• For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |||
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-4 18th at Redstone GC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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