'Of the majors, the Open is the greatest challenge for me. But it's

A practice round at Royal Birkdale offers the perfect backdrop for the Ryder Cup stalwart to demonstrate he has the commitment and the quality to triumph this week

THE BRIAN VINER INTERVIEW

PAUL CASEY

When Vijay Singh accused British golfers of playing within their comfort zone, of being good enough to win majors but having the winning mentality sapped from them by a cushy lifestyle, Paul Casey was doubtless one of those on his mind.

Casey had an outstanding amateur record and during his golf scholarship at Arizona State University he eclipsed the low-scoring record of a previous alumnus, one Philip Alfred Mickelson. Since turning pro in 2000 he has won eight times on the European Tour, played on two winning Ryder Cup teams, and bagged three top 15 finishes at the US Masters. But he has never cradled a major championship trophy and when I step up with him to the 17th tee at Royal Birkdale to find the Claret Jug presented to the Open Champion standing there resplendently, having been borrowed for a feature by the American sports channel ESPN, he, unlike me, does not wish to be pictured alongside it. He barely even looks at it. No matter what Vijay said, the Claret Jug will interest him only when it bears his name.

It is a sunny Friday morning a fortnight before the Open and Casey has driven up from his home in Surrey to take his first look at Birkdale. He has agreed to let me walk the course with him and I risk upsetting his stroke by asking whether Vijay's remarks offended him.

"Well, Vijay's one of the few players who's been No 1 in the world while Tiger's been around, so he's got credibility," Casey says. "But I don't think you should confuse what you see with the amount of effort that a guy's putting in. I get my work done before events, and I'd like to see Vijay in the gym doing what I do.

"Everyone knows what makes themselves tick. Take Monty [Colin Montgomerie]. There's a guy with eight Order of Merits, Europe's best player for however long, but you don't really see him on the range. Justin Rose, on the other hand, works incredibly hard. I always see him on the range at Wisley [the club in Surrey to which both men belong]. Also, Vijay did most of his winning after the age of 35. I'm 30 now. The way I look at it, I've got 10 years now to do something special."

What price him starting with something special at Birkdale? Well, 66-1 as it happens. Despite a third place at the BMW International Open in Munich, Casey's form has been poor this season. At the end of 2007 he was ranked 21st in the world; he has since slumped to 48th. Moreover, of all the majors, the Open, in which he has never finished higher than 20th, is least suited to his high-hitting game. Yet it is the one he covets most. "I honestly think the Masters offers the best opportunity, whereas this is the greatest challenge for me, but this is the one I really want," he says.

If his ball-striking on the day I amble round with him is anything to go by, and it probably is not, then at 66-1 he might be worth a flutter. On the first hole he nails a three-wood, hits a seven-iron to 10 feet and casually rolls in the putt for a birdie. "Top of the leader board," I say. He indulges me with a chuckle.

"The great thing about the Open is that it's got all this infrastructure," he says, indicating the stands. "It means there's so much more to hit at. It's different coming out here as a paying customer. On the other hand, you've still got to choose what kind of shot to hit. At Augusta [where this year Casey tied for 11th] there's often only one way to play shots because of the confined space. Here, you can hit it low, high, a draw, a cut. In the past I've struggled to select that shot and stick with it." His favourite Open venue is Turnberry, he adds. "But I've not played this one before. This could be right up there by the end of today."

His decision to skip both the European Open and the Scottish Open to hone his game for the Open has been questioned by those who think that he should be desperately trying to accumulate Ryder Cup points. He has a swift riposte for them. "I'd rather be in that team as Open champion. It's not that I'm not aware of my position, and it's phenomenal being on the team but, to be brutally honest, the most important thing to me is getting majors on my CV."

He saw some validity in Jack Nicklaus's recent assertion that the Ryder Cup is a mere frippery compared with major championship golf. "Every golf fan knows how many majors Nicklaus won: 18. But what's Jack's Ryder Cup record? Nobody knows. [Nick] Faldo has the greatest points haul of any European golfer in the Ryder Cup, and Monty's just behind him, but I don't know what that number is. All I know is that Faldo won six majors."

We have reached the tee of the par-three fourth. After Casey knocks a six-iron pin-high, I point out the handsome nearby homes of Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen. "I can never get my head round the prices of the houses we rent during the Open," he says. "[His agents] IMG find me a place, but ultimately I'm the one who pays for it, and if you want a house sleeping seven or eight with a nice garden, there's nothing for less than 10 grand."