(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

By Joel Beall
Paul Casey fired a 66 on Saturday at the Northern Trust, a score that vaulted the Englishman to third on the tournament leader board entering final-round play at Glen Oaks Club. Casey, who began the postseason 18th in the FedEx Cup standings, should find himself among the top point getters with another solid performance on Sunday. Given the 40-year-old’s playoff push from a season ago — posting two consecutive runner-ups at the Deutsche Bank and BMW Championships, with a fourth-place finish at East Lake — it’s a name his fellow tour brethren would prefer not to have breathing down their neck.

Fortunately for his competition, that’s a circumstance that may not come to fruition. And they have Casey’s wife, and unborn baby, to thank.

Casey’s wife, Pollyanna, is pregnant and currently due the week of the Tour Championship. Speaking to the Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, Casey mentioned the possibility of delivering the child early via a caesarean section.

“We’re trying to get a due date. It’s a little problematic,” Casey said. “Right now she wants me to play. I don’t know, I’m undecided. Quite torn.”

Jamie Squire

This is not the first time a pregnancy threw a wrench into a player’s postseason push. During the 2014 Tour Championship, Brittany Horschel, wife of Billy, was pregnant with the couple’s first child. Considering the $10 million prize on the line, Horschel was put in a dilemma, one his wife solved by telling him to stay in Atlanta. Luckily for the couple, Brittany went into labor two days after Horschel’s career breakthrough.

Granted, Casey’s won over $20 million on the PGA Tour (along with €15,442,322 on the European Tour). Still, $10 million is a lot of cabbage, and in three career appearances at East Lake, Casey’s worst finish is a T-5. That is a decision we do not envy.

Here’s hoping the situation sorts itself out, and more importantly, that Pollyanna and the baby experience a safe and healthy delivery.

Editor’s note: Casey closed with a 71 at Glen Oaks overnight to finish -6 for the championship and T-5, seven shots adrift of the Dustin Johnson-Jordan Spieth playoff won by world No.1 Johnson.