CHASKA, Minn. – Paul Casey, the No. 3 player in the world, withdrew Thursday morning before starting the PGA Championship because of a rib muscle injury. He also withdrew from last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational after six holes with the injury but arrived at Hazeltine National earlier this week hoping he could recover in time to play.
“Very disappointed, but I have to look at the bigger picture, which is the fact that I will play a lot more majors over my career, and I have to be ready for what is coming up the rest of the season with the FedEx Cup and The Race to Dubai,” Casey said. “But it is very frustrating because standing there hitting easy golf swings it is not that bad. It is just starting to pull when you are getting to 6-irons and longer.”
Casey said he will fly back to his Phoenix home, where he will undergo further medical exams “to make sure it is just a muscle strain and not perhaps a rib slightly out of place, and, indeed, the worst case scenario may be a rib might be cracked.”
Casey, who is missing a major for the first time since the 2006 Masters, was replaced in the field by Tim Petrovic, who went off at 7:45 a.m.
“Very disappointed, but I have to look at the bigger picture, which is the fact that I will play a lot more majors over my career, and I have to be ready for what is coming up the rest of the season with the FedEx Cup and The Race to Dubai,” Casey said. “But it is very frustrating because standing there hitting easy golf swings it is not that bad. It is just starting to pull when you are getting to 6-irons and longer.”
Casey said he will fly back to his Phoenix home, where he will undergo further medical exams “to make sure it is just a muscle strain and not perhaps a rib slightly out of place, and, indeed, the worst case scenario may be a rib might be cracked.”
Casey, who is missing a major for the first time since the 2006 Masters, was replaced in the field by Tim Petrovic, who went off at 7:45 a.m.
Mell, a senior writer, is a 30-year veteran and covers the PGA and LPGA tours for Golf Channel.
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