LIV pro axed by golf coach: "My reasons are both personal and private and will remain as such"
Peter Kostis has confirmed he has severed his ties with English LIV Golf pro Paul Casey after more than 24 years working together.
Paul Casey's long-time coach Peter Kostis has confirmed he has split with the LIV Golf pro after more than two decades.
The Englishman has been under the tutelage of Kostis for the last 24 years but over the weekend the instructor confirmed they have parted ways.
Kostis appeared to suggest there is no animosity between the pair in a short statement that he published on 25 October.
"Every teacher/student relationship has a half-life," he wrote on X.
"Reluctantly, after 24 years I feel it's best for me to step away from my work with Paul Casey.
"My reasons are both personal and private and will remain as such.
"Helping him become an elite ball-striker and world-class player from the days he left ASU all the way to today was a very rewarding journey and I wish him well going forward."
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Casey turned professional in 2000 and achieved a career high of third in the Official World Golf Ranking nine years after his debut.
He also spent more than 800 weeks inside the top 50 but has fallen to 871st since his switch to LIV two years ago.
Although he hasn't won a major, he won 15 titles on the European Tour and three times on the PGA Tour.
He also played a key role in several European Ryder Cup victories.
Casey represented Europe on five occasions, boasting an overall record of 4-7-5 in the biennial contest.
He joined the Saudi-backed breakaway tour officially in July 2022, joining Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell.
At the time, he was ranked 26th in the OWGR.
Earlier this year, he claimed he 'physical burnout' was a key reason as to why he joined LIV.
He was battling persistent injuries and felt the choice was the best for himself and his family.
The health of his caddie, Johnny 'Long Socks' McLaren, also came into his consideration, he said.
"Suffering injuries and basically being fairly unhappy with the state of the game of golf," he previously said.
"I went for something new, plain and simple. For my own sake, for my family's sake and that was a long answer to a short question, but I am actually pretty damn happy playing on LIV right now, I must admit."
He added: "I will say this, and I'll throw this into the mix, and this is something I've not talked about, but people know it on LIV and people know it on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour as well.
"You know my dear caddy Johnny McLaren, Johnny long socks as he's known? – Johnny and I have been best mates and a team for the last eight years, well Johnny had a brain tumour removed last April.
"So when you're never quite sure what is going on in people's lives, there's a lot and that was something Johnny and I spoke about and that was another reason why we went to LIV because we couldn't keep doing what we were doing.
"One of the breaking point moments was the end of the year in 2021, during the COVID protocols let's say, testing, we were throwing out false positives on our way to a tournament in Japan where if you turned up in Japan, you were going to get locked up in a hotel room for 10 days, pretty small hotel room by all accounts, and both of us basically hit a breaking point and we just said, 'We can't do this anymore'.
"Knowing Johnny's health issues at the time and what we were dealing with, that's a little bit more of an insight into why I'm currently doing what I'm doing."
Casey is part of Bryson DeChambeau's Crushers.
The Englishman had a strong season in 2024 with the breakaway tour, finishing 11th in the standings.
DeChambeau is reportedly keen to keep the same roster for the 2025 campaign, which begins next February in Riyadh.
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