Casey’s misfortune is a drain on the brain

PAUL CASEY’S hopes of defending his Scottish PGA Championship went literally down the drain after a bizarre piece of bad luck at Gleneagles.

The 25-year-old was four under par after his first 10 holes and just one shot off the lead when he amazingly lost a ball on the second fairway.

After pushing his drive into the rough, the former Walker Cup star played his second shot safely up the fairway with a sand wedge, leaving a simple approach to the green on the 516-yard par five.

But when he went to where he thought it would have landed, neither he nor playing partners Sandy Lyle or Richard Johnson could find it.

After spending the allotted five minutes looking for the ball it was declared lost, but on the way back down the fairway to play another ball, his original was found to have slipped down a drain in the fairway.

If it had been found in the five-minute period Casey would have been given a free drop from the obstruction, but as it had been declared lost he had to play another ball, now his fourth shot, from where he had hit his second.

It all led to a double-bogey seven and undoubtedly contributed to three more dropped shots coming home that meant he had to settle for a level par 72, seven shots off the lead held by Australian left-hander Richard Green who carded a 65.

‘‘I was going along nicely and that threw a big spanner in the works,’’ said Casey, whose victory here 12 months ago came in only his 11th professional event and almost earned him a Ryder Cup wild card.

‘‘I was just knocking it out with a sand wedge and hit a good shot, but lost the ball in mid-air and didn’t see it come down. Somebody said they thought they heard it hit something so we thought it had hit a sprinkler head and bounced into the rough.

‘‘After five minutes we couldn’t find it but walking back to play another ball I spotted it under the drain, clearly visible. The drain covers are just flimsy black plastic so maybe the ball hit the cover and went straight in.

‘‘It’s a one-in-a-million chance but we proved it could happen. It cost me two shots and is very bad for morale, it puts you in the wrong frame of mind.

Lyle said he had never seen anything like it in his 25 years as a professional, and called for more ball spotters on the course to prevent players losing more balls in the heavy rough.

‘‘It is a brutal golf course in places out there, if you don’t get your tee shots away you are a dead duck,’’ said Lyle, who carded an opening 68 to be just one off the pace as he tries to earn the £25,000 he will probably need to keep his card for next season.

‘‘Your heart is in your mouth on holes like the 18th and Richard Johnson lost a ball there.

Green enjoyed a one-shot lead over Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson with Scottish duo Andrew Coltart and Raymond Russell among those a shot further back, with a total of 23 players within three shots of the lead.