Casey Puts a Lot of Spin on Shots

He doesn’t look like the most hated golfer in America. He smiles, he’s bright, he went to Arizona State, he likes auto racing. He looks like a Boy Scout. He appears younger than 27, almost like he should be holding an ice cream cone instead of a golf club.

Paul Casey isn’t only the guy who tied for sixth at the Masters, a burgeoning star, a prominent player on the European Ryder Cup team, he’s the guy that created a mountain of controversy in pro golf, and the guy who has spent about three months trying to dig himself out from underneath it all.

So on Wednesday afternoon, from inside the Nike equipment truck parked near the driving range at Riviera Country Club, the Englishman went to bat for himself.

“I just put my foot in my mouth,” Casey said. “Fully in there.”

What Casey said in November caused headlines to race across the Sunday Times of London as if they were on roller blades or propelled by jet fuel.

The occasion was the World Cup of Golf in Seville, Spain, and his words caused a tempest in the small and interwoven world of the traveling road show that is the PGA Tour.

Perhaps a review is necessary.

Of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, he said: “Oh, we properly hate them. We wanted to beat them as badly as possible.”

On Americans in general: “The vast majority of Americans don’t know what’s going on. They have no concept of the UK [United Kingdom], for instance.”

There was more, of course. Casey also criticized the choice of Tom Lehman as the U.S. Ryder Cup captain: “It’s not a sensible appointment.”

If Casey didn’t know what kind of reaction to expect, it didn’t take long.

The tabloid Mirror went this way: “AMERICANS ARE STUPID. I HATE THEM” SAYS RYDER CUP STAR PAUL CASEY.”

That’s not what he said, of course, but Casey has figured out the London tabloid game by now.

“The headline was the thing that crushed me. The editor did his job and got that story noticed,” he said.

Casey has played only once on the PGA Tour since the incident and missed the cut at the Sony Open. He pulled out of Torrey Pines and Scottsdale, Ariz., not to avoid controversy, but because of a back injury, he said.

In the interim, there have been suggestions that Casey might want to think about a change in geography. Scott Verplank said he should go back to England.

Since then, more players have expressed sympathy after speaking with Casey, such as Lehman, Brad Faxon and John Cook.

The time to apologize to anyone who wants to listen, said Casey, is now ... and probably as long as it takes to get the message out. Casey worked with a sports psychologist because of the stress he was feeling. Titleist let his endorsement contract expire and he signed with Nike, which has given him media training and suggested he tackle the situation head-on, even if that means speaking with reporters or players in small groups.

“I’m trying to put this behind me and move on,” he said. “All I can do is apologize to anybody I’ve hurt and carry on and try to get back to having fun, which is what I’m trying to do. To let my clubs do the talking.”

There were several suggestions about how to make amends. A mass news conference? Too self-serving. A televised confession? Tacky. Sports Illustrated suggested he pose in front of an American flag. Casey declined.

He admitted that he overstepped his mark, that he said things he didn’t mean and then didn’t explain himself immediately.

“I regret what I’ve said,” he said.

Admitting mistakes is clearly the right path to travel if you want people to get over it. Casey’s peers, once they discover the person behind the words, will move on, and so too will the golf fans, all in due time.

But at every tournament Casey goes, there’s probably going to be another reporter with a notebook full of questions.

And if the fans can heckle Colin Montgomerie, imagine what they might do with Casey. But this might be different, if Casey takes the higher road, which looks like the way he’s going now.

It’s a long road and it’s probably going to be bumpy, but chances are it’s going to be worth the trip. And if it takes a long time to get there, no apologies necessary.