Paul Casey: One reason I joined LIV Golf? My caddie had a brain tumour

Paul Casey says one of the reasons he decided to join LIV Golf was because his caddie Johnny 'Long Socks' McLaren had a brain tumour. 

Casey made the revelation in the most recent edition of Are You Not Entertained? podcast. 

The Englishman approached a number of topics in the 60-minute interview and it's fair to say he has strong views on the current state of affairs. 

In his opinion, PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan has a lot to answer for over the protracted schism in the men's game.

Monahan faced the media for the first time in months before the Players Championship. 

It was the first time the PGA Tour boss had faced the music since announcing an intention to strike a deal with LIV's Saudi backers last June. 

The PGA Tour boss stressed the importance of 'the fans' but Casey considered his comments too little, too late. 

"This should have been thought of before," Casey told the podcast. 

"We take the blame for this, as players, but I'm not sure the blame rests squarely on our shoulders.

"For the longest time we've just wanted to play golf. That's it."

Casey also claimed some of his peers such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson have been 'thrown under the bus'. 

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Casey was among the second wave of defections to LIV Golf in 2022. 

He was announced as one of Bryson DeChambeau's Crushers during the second broadcast. 

His decision to join LIV was widely criticised given he was previously an ambassador for UNICEF. Casey had once declined to play in Saudi Arabia. 

"Anyone who says sport isn't political, that's rubbish," Casey previously said of that decision years ago. 

"I'm glad I took a stance, more so if it highlighted the issues within the region."

How times changed and a 44-year-old Casey - hampered with a back injury - decided to join LIV in July 2022. 

Opening up on his decision to join LIV, Casey told the podcast he began to struggle with the burdensome schedule. "It was go go go," he said. 

He added: "I will say this and I'll throw this into the mix as this is something I have not talked about but people know it on LIV and the DP World Tour, PGA Tour as well. 

"You know my dear caddie, Johnny McLaren? Johnny 'Long Socks' McLaren as he's affectionately known. 

"Anybody who wonders what that means just has to look up a picture of Johnny and they'll see a 50-year-old guy wearing his Jordan 1s and his big long socks lolloping around the golf course. 

"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 peoples' lives, there's a lot. 

"That is something Johnny and I spoke about and that is 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 all the COVID protocols, let's say, we were throwing out false positives on our way to a tournament in Japan where if you turn up to a tournament in Japan you were going to get locked in your hotel room for 10 days, a pretty small hotel room by all accounts and we basically both hit a breaking point and 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 insight into why I'm currently doing what I'm doing."

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