SHANGHAI (PA) -- Paul Casey admits he is desperate to end the frustration of a 21-month wait for a title when the 2009 European Tour season gets under way with the start of the HSBC Champions on Thursday.

Casey will begin his quest for a ninth European Tour title and first since Abu Dhabi in January 2007 when he lines up in the high-class field at Sheshan International GC for the tournament that signals the start of the lucrative Race to Dubai -- which replaces the traditional European Tour Order of Merit money list.

The 31-year-old Englishman has endured a string of top-20 finishes this year -- including ties for seventh, 11th and 15th at the British Open, Masters and PGA Championship, respectively -- but no trophies.

That is a record Casey is eager to rectify at a tournament where his worst finish is a tie for ninth.

"My focus has been very much the majors. I used to be a little bit one-dimensional; Augusta was the one where I did well and the others I sort of struggled at," he said.

"For the last two years I've made every single cut (in the majors), that's a sign I'm working on the right things," he explained. "I've had a bunch of major top-10s, but you want wins and that's been frustrating.

"Maybe there's been too much emphasis on the majors and trying to get ready for those but there's no better feeling than winning golf events and I haven't felt it in a while," he added. "I definitely think my game's in good enough shape."

The Ryder Cup star will certainly have to play well to triumph this week, with the likes of world No. 2 Phil Mickelson, British Open and PGA Championship winner Padraig Harrington and newly crowned 2008 Order of Merit winner Robert Karlsson in the field.

"I'd like to win it -- you can never say you are going to win something -- but I've got a half-decent record there, I've had three top-10s, so there's no reason why I can't win it," added Casey.

"I've been working hard on the game," he said. "The results this year have been good, it's maybe a little bit frustrating that I've had a lot of top 10s but no wins, so it'd be nice to close it out with a win in Shanghai.

"It's a fine balance. You've got to go in there wanting to win, knowing you've got the game to win but maybe you need to put that to the side and sit back and see what happens," he added. "You probably can't force it."

Since finishing second to Harrington in the 2006 European Order of Merit, Casey has failed to emerge as the consistent threat at big tournaments he seemed destined to become despite his improving record in the majors.

Having fallen to 40th in the world, he also proved a somewhat contentious pick by Captain Nick Faldo for Europe's recent failed Ryder Cup bid at Valhalla. However, Casey believes victory in Shanghai would be the equal of anything he has achieved to date.

"If you go down the order, majors are the biggest things then the WGC events and then I'd put the Champions up there with any other event you play worldwide," he insisted. "We're going to have world-class golfers. A win is a win and there's no such thing as an easy win any more.

"It would be a very good win, it really would," he added. "It could be the strongest win I'd have if I were to win it, certainly against a stroke-play field, and that'd be nice."

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