From the children’s bedroom wall to the roads – Paul Casey’s passion for motor racing goes a long, long way back. “I’ve basically always loved sports cars. When I was a kid, I had a poster of the Porsche 959 over my bed. I can still remember it so clearly, as if it was today. It was silver. It was perfect,” confides Casey, who in almost two decades as a pro has celebrated 19 tournament wins and triumphed three times in the Ryder Cup with Team Europe.
The 42-year old USA resident is competing at the Porsche European Open for the second time in succession. This year, it marks the start of a series of tournaments on the European Tour. “It’s no coincidence that I’m starting here on the Europa Tour. “I love Porsche and really wanted to play here.” Back home Casey drives a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and will be focussing on the hole-in-one prize – the new Porsche Taycan – when going around the Porsche Nord Course.
“I’ll be going for the pin on the 17th. At tournaments where there’s cars I don’t like quite so much as hole-in-one prizes, I always promise to give them to my caddy. It’s definitely not something I’ll be doing this time around,” laughs Casey, who grew up near to the famous Brands Hatch race circuit and who was given the motorsport bug from an early age. “I love racing. But I’ll never become a racing driver now – even though I dreamt about it for a long time.”
Now he is dreaming of owning the whole range of 911 GT3 models at some stage. “The Porsche 911 is the classic sports car. The brand embodies an incredible heritage, their dominance in motor racing is so impressive. Everything they make, they make properly. They’re so incredibly difficult to beat – I’d love to say that for myself.”
Casey in the Leader’s Car
Soon afterwards, Casey was untouchable, at least in the opening round of the Porsche European Open. After heading the field by one shot, he got to enjoy the pleasure of being able to drive around Hamburg for a day in the Leader’s Car. The Porsche 911 Carrera 4S has a special design by “Second Skin”, a Porsche Digital service for customized livery.
Paul Casey at the Porsche European Open 2019
