LIV Golf pro admits jealousy ahead of Olympics
England's Paul Casey, who plays LIV Golf League events, has admitted he is very jealous at Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick ahead of the Olympics.
England's Paul Casey, who plays in LIV Golf League events, has admitted he is very jealous of Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick ahead of the Olympics.
Casey was Fleetwood's partner in the Olympic golf event in Tokyo.
But he missed out on Paris 2024 because he fell too far down the Official World Golf Ranking to be considered for selection.
The 47-year-old was inside the top 25 players in the world four years ago but has now fallen to 693rd in the rankings.
That dramatic slide is owing to the fact that the breakaway LIV Golf does not receive OWGR points.
A number of high-profile players, such as U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, are absent as a result.
Some players, such as Jon Rahm and Carlos Ortiz, have urged the qualifying process to change in future Games to accommodate LIV players.
"Part of me is actually very jealous because it really was something amazing," Casey told Mirror Sport.
"I think Tommy and Matt have got a great chance of winning a medal, so I wish them all the best, and I'll be watching."
Casey missed out on a medal in Japan in agonising circumstances.
After finishing in a tie for third, Casey was involved in a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal.
C.T. Pan ultimately walked away with the bronze.
"To finish at the time tied third and then walk away with the Olympics with nothing is pretty sobering," Casey added.
"But it gave me an understanding of what it's like for Olympic athletes to sort of have something that you've worked so hard for, in our case, four years, and then sometimes your Olympic experience is quite humbling.
"In our sport obviously very different, we play almost week in and week out."
Casey continued: "On the bright side, I've never been a part of anything like that, to represent your country at any level, and I've done it at an amateur level right through to professional.
"The Olympics ranks right up there as one of the greatest things I've ever done, taking the results out of that.
"And that was a muted experience because it was Japan and it was COVID and we couldn't stay longer than our event lasted so you couldn't mingle the way you wanted to.
"Still, it was unbelievable."
Despite the fact the aforementioned DeChambeau won't be at the Games, LIV will have strong representation in Paris.
As many as seven LIV players will be in the field.
Rahm and Ortiz will be joined by David Puig, Abraham Ancer, Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira and Adrian Meronk.
GolfMagic will be bringing you live text updates plus all the latest news, opinion and analysis from the Olympics.
