By Kent Gray
Paul Casey was clearly intent on making up for lost time early Thursday in his first OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic start since 2014.

The 43-year-old Englishman only landed from the U.S. late on Tuesday but showed no signs of jetlag as he sensationally birdied his opening four holes and five of his first seven after starting on the Majlis’ 10th tee.

Casey eventually signed for a five-under 67 to be right in the mix. He’s now played 26 of his 30 rounds at Emirates G.C. in a combined 81 under par and is seemingly set to extend his record of not having missed a cut in seven previous Dubai starts. His share of 4th in 2009 might even be in danger although the Majlis layout is a different beast now.

“This is a difficult golf course,” Casey said after his “great start”. “The last time I played here was seven years ago. It was difficult then [but] it’s grown some teeth in the last few years, some new tees. It’s difficult to read the greens and make putts around here. They have always been tricky, a bit of grain in there. But yeah, very happy.”

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Casey is chasing a 15th European Tour title to go with his three PGA Tour wins. He hasn’t won since his Valspar Championship (PGA Tour) and European Open double in 2019 but did finish second to Collin Morikawa at August’s PGA Championship in San Francisco.

He went off the boil for the remainder of 2020 but has made a fast start to the new year including a T-8 finish at the PGA Tour’s American Express championship last week. A tweak to his usual routine has given Casey fresh perspective.

“Yeah, feel lucky because golf courses are open in Arizona. Even various other places across the state line, they are not. I feel for everybody in the U.K. where golf courses are closed right now.

“To be honest I took advantage of it. I spent a lot of time playing. It’s maybe something I’ve not done as much of over the last few years. I put a new driver in the bag the last couple of weeks as well.

“Just small little changes. I mean, 2020 — let’s just move on. I feel optimistic this year. We’re still in the middle of a pandemic, things are still difficult around the world. We are very lucky that we’re playing golf and I feel in that sort of fortunate place that we’re in, I feel that I’m going to take advantage of that, while I’m out here, make hay.”

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