ASU in the Pros Series: Paul Casey

Besides Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm, it’s Paul Casey who had the best run as an ASU golfer while he was with program from 1998-2000.

His amateur career as a Sun Devil was distinguished, as he won three consecutive Pac-10 Championships and made three consecutive All-American and All-Conference teams. Casey also broke the championship scoring record held then by a college senior named Tiger Woods with a 23-under par in 2000.

His stroke average of 69.87 set the ASU school record in 2000. The record was formerly held by Phil Mickelson who posted a 69.95 average in his senior season in 1991-92.

“Mickelson is one of the great Sun Devil golfers, but from what I’ve seen from Casey this year may put him above and beyond what I saw from Phil,” Casey said. “I know that’s bold, but I truly believe it,” Casey’s coach, Randy Lein, told The Arizona Rebublic this at the time of the accomplishment.

Casey ended his career with six championships, tied for third on the ASU wins list as he passed 1993 NCAA Champion Todd Demsey, who had five. Casey ended his career tied with Charlie Gibson, who won six titles from 1972-75, while four-time All-American Billy Mayfair won eight titles from 1985-88. Mickelson leads the list with an amazing 16 title wins from 1989-92.

Before turning pro, Casey competed in and won the English Amateur in 1999 and 2000. He was also a member of Great Britain and Ireland's winning 1999 Walker Cup team, where he was only the third player in 77 years to record four victories without a single defeat.

Notable Achievements at ASU

• 2000 First-Team All American

• 1998 and 1999 Second-Team All-American

• Three-time Pac-10 Champion from 1998-2000

• 1999 and 2000 English Amateur

• 69.87 stroke average in 2000 to lead all collegiate golfers

Where is he now?

After forgoing his senior season at ASU, Casey joined the European Tour in May of 2001 and kept his play going, as he recorded a second place finish in his fifth event and a win in his eleventh event.

Casey had one of the most impressive rookie seasons the European Tour had ever seen, collecting 10 Top-10 finishes with 6 victories. However he couldn’t keep going into his sophomore campaign, with only two victories and one other top-10 finish.

2004 was a breakout year for Casey as he took home three top-place finishes and was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team. He also won the WGC-World Cup for England and joined the PGA Tour shortly after.

Casey’s time on the PGA circuit has been up and down as it featured his first three years not winning a tournament and he was ranked as low No, 346. However, the highs have made up for this as Casey has won 14 tournaments since and has been featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings and was the highest ranked Englishman for a time. In Jan. 2007, he reached a career high of No. 13 in the rankings.

Although Casey is still looking for his first Major Championship, he has had a successful career and there is a lot more to come.

Notable Professional Achievements:

• 17 PGA-Tour victories

• 11 European Tour victories

• 2 Ryder Cup wins

• Ranked as high as number-13 on the World Golf Ranking and number-three on the PGA rankings