The extremely unfortunate news of Paul Casey dislocating his shoulder, resulting in an untimely lay-off, and the ensuing debate on Twitter, got me quite cross (grr - how very British) about the 'avoidable injury'.
No-one likes to be injured and prevented from taking part in the sport that they enjoy, especially if you don't get to play it very often and so each outing is very special. That said, accidents do happen and can sometimes strike at the most inopportune moment and have a terminal impact on the sport you were due to play.
The thing that got my goat with the news of Paul Casey's shoulder was that it happened whilst he was snowboarding.
Snowboarding.
Let's take a step back and try to have a bird's-eye look at the situation - you are an extremely talented golfer whose form looked pretty solid at the end of 2011 given the rotten luck you'd had for two years with niggling injuries. You are looking forward to the new season and getting off to a flyer, especially as there is a Ryder Cup in September and you are still a bit pissed off about missing the last one. Your previous season didn't go to plan, with a sore toe causing havoc with your swing and resulted in a lost PGA Tour card, so there is a tad more pressure this coming season but, as you are now fully fit, you are fully confident of picking up some well-earned cheques and getting your career back on track.
With all that in mind why, in the name of all that is holy, would you decide to go snowboarding? Of all the winter R&R activities available to a (newly single) millionaire in his mid-thirties, surely he would have thought 'Hmm, if I crash (which I will) there's a good chance I'll come of worse in an argument with a tree. That'll put a dent in my career plan. Perhaps I'll use the hot-tub again. Beer please, barman'.
Considering his choice of career has no guaranteed earnings, you would have thought the financial considerations would have been somewhere in his mind. Even if they weren't, and given he has earnt a bucketload of cash since turning professional that is entirely plausible, wouldn't the chase of the top prizes, not to mention the Ryder Cup, be uppermost in his mind?
Casey is 34 and he is still being talked about as having potential. Sorry chum, your time is now. Two notable peers of yours are Messrs Donald & Westwood and they are streets ahead in terms of tournament victories, career earnings and world ranking positions. Given the way the last couple of years have gone for him (unavoidably so), this could have been a stellar year to make up some ground.
And this doesn't even begin to imagine the reaction of his sponsors and management, but I can guess that they weren't too chuffed with the news.
Unfortunately, he's not the first and he probably won't be the last to take such risks with a precious career.
Last year Thomas Levet chose to jump into the lake after winning the French Open. Why not jump in? After all, he had just played brilliantly to win his home championship. Unfortunately, he broke his leg and missed the Scottish Open and The Open the following weeks.
My point is that both the Levet and Casey injuries were entirely avoidable and it annoys me that someone with that level of sporting ability would jeopardise the long-term for the sake of a short-term bit of excitement.
UPDATE: I now hear Ian Poulter, my favourite golfer and Mr Ryder Cup, is going go-karting with Rubens Barrichello. All I can say is Martin Kaymer, 2009.
Jesus.
I am the Part-Time Golfer
I hear you but at the same time there's part of me that admires Casey for wanting to do something different and risky. It makes him a more interesting person. He's not all golf all the time but somebody who says "What the eff, let's give this a go." There's no denying that his injury represents a setback at a critical time in his career and I feel sorry for him, but, to be honest it's not like he's a member of a team that I root for passionately. Besides, in a way, his injury is a personal sacrifice made in order to offset, in a small way, the public image of golfers as non-athletes who just waddle up to a small white ball and hit it. That's the talk that pisses me off.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul. I can see your point about him wanting to do something different and risky. My issue is with the timing - given the terrible run of niggly injuries he had just come back from, I would have expected him to be doing everything he could possibly do to ensure (as much as one can) he is fully fit and firing for the new season, particularly with the Ryder Cup coming along.
DeleteI certainly don't expect professional golfers (or anyone for that matter) to be wrapped in cotton wool 24/7, but there is such a thing as suitable timing!
James
p.s. totally take your point about not rooting for the Europeans ;)