Casey will miss valuable points for Ryder Cup team

• By Ryan Ballengee
• Jan 6, 2012 1:30 PM ET

After dislocating his right shoulder during a snowboarding trip, Englishman Paul Casey will miss the first two months in a Ryder Cup year. The injury could dash Casey's hopes of returning to the European squad at Medinah in September, as he will miss tournaments in which he typically fares well.

Casey will miss his defense at the Volvo Golf Champions after taking the inaugural event in Bahrain last year. He will also miss the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, an event has has won twice in the last five years. The 20th-ranked Casey will also miss the WGC-Accenture Match Play, an event in which he has advanced to the finals in two of the last three years.

With strong fields, all of his missed tournaments will offer significant world ranking points which Casey could have used to make Jose Maria Olazabal's European Ryder Cup team. Currently 30th on the points list, Casey is 12th on the world ranking points list. With half of the 10 automatic qualifiers drawn from each list, Casey will need to make up ground when he returns in March.

Left at the mercy of captain Olazabal, Casey could be in store for another heartbreak. After a stellar 2010 which included six top-10 finishes before the European team was settled, captain Colin Montgomerie did not select Casey with one of his three picks. It was the first time Casey had not been a part of the European Ryder Cup charge since 2002.