NEWS

Dislocated shoulder will keep Casey out for first two months of season

By PA Sport
Published on
Dislocated shoulder will keep Casey out for first two months of season

Paul Casey dislocated his right shoulder while snowboarding in Colorado, sidelining him for the first two months of the year and damaging his chances of qualifying for Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

The 20th-ranked Englishman said he doesn’t need surgery and “should be back hitting balls in a few weeks.”

Casey will be unable to defend his Volvo Golf Champions title in South Africa this month and will also miss the European Tour’s entire Middle East Swing. That includes the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, which he has won twice in the past five years.

“I am very frustrated as I was really looking forward to getting off to a fast start in 2012,” he said.

The 34-year-old Casey lost his PGA Tour card last year and will lose the chance to earn valuable Ryder Cup points ahead of the matches at Medinah in September.

"I've always played well in the desert and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is one of my favorite events of the year, so I will particularly hate sitting out that one," he said. "The good news is that the experts I've seen say I don't need surgery and, having already started my rehabilitation exercises, I should be back hitting balls in a few weeks."

Casey failed to qualify for the last Ryder Cup after suffering a rib muscle injury and was controversially not given a wild card by Captain Colin Montgomerie despite being in the world's top 10 at the time.

Then last season he suffered from "turf toe" -- a condition often associated with football or rugby players.

"There were times during the summer where I could barely walk round the course, never mind play the kind of golf I know I am capable of," he said.

He lost his PGA Tour card in America after finishing outside the top 125 on the money list, but his world ranking (he is No. 20) means he is still eligible for all of golf's big events -- once he is fit again.