Casey fired up

Paul Casey went from furious to delighted in the space of an hour and led the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth today.

Paired with Ernie Els and defending champion Ignacio Garrido, the 26-year-old angrily slammed his club back into his bag after seeing his tee shot to the short second spin off the green and down a steep slope.

Casey bogeyed the hole while Els and Garrido birdied it, but then stole the show over the next stretch of holes.

After matching Els’ birdie at the third he eagled the 497-yard fourth and then added further birdies at the seventh and eighth.

The last of them took Casey – sixth on his debut in the Masters at Augusta next month and pressing hard for a Ryder Cup debut this September – to four under par and joint top with Australian Peter Lonard.

In Germany last week Casey changed putters and experimented with a cack-handed grip, left hand below right, but then abandoned it and returned to the method which has made him one of Europe’s rising stars.

Lonard had four birdies in the first six holes, while Els justified his tag as favourite, even with world number two Vijay Singh in the field, by adding a third birdie at the eighth.

The South African, three times a runner-up in the event and fives times a winner of the World Match Play title on the course, shared third spot with Garrido, England’s Anthony Wall and Andrew Marshall and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.

Lee Westwood, however, was one over after seven, mixing three bogeys with two birdies, while Open champion Ben Curtis, Sandy Lyle and Thomas Bjorn stood level par.

Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke and Singh were among the later starters, Singh appearing in Europe for the first time this season after a brilliant run in America which has taken him close to Tiger Woods at the top of the rankings.

Many players, Els among them, consider him the best player right now, but the Fijian has made it his burning ambition to climb above Woods.

“I won’t be fulfilled unless I’m there at number one,” he said. “I’ve made a goal that I want to finish my career ranked number one at least once.

“I don’t have that many years to go – five, six, maybe seven – but I plan to do that and I’m playing good enough.”

Singh, now 41, was 25 when he came through the European Tour qualifying school at the second attempt in 1988.

“I played with the best guys like Seve (Ballesteros) and (Nick) Faldo when they were at their best. I wasn’t at their standard at that time, but I learned a lot.

“I also remember seeing Greg Norman in Australia in 1986 or 1987, something like that. He hit a ball on a par three that came out like a cannon and I turned to a friend and said, ‘That’s what I want to be able to do one day.’

“I remember thinking about what I needed to do to be where I am now, but I never thought I was going to get here.”

Faldo, a four-time PGA champion, is playing this week, but Ballesteros has not played competitively since last October and has now said he doubts whether he will again because of an arthritic back.

Els birdied the 452-yard ninth, so he and Casey were both out in a four-under 31 while Garrido, the third member of the group, turned in 32.

By now there was a six-way tie at the top, with Wall, Colsaerts and Welshman David Park – helped by his second eagle of the day on the 12th – all joining Casey, Lonard and Els.

Curtis fell six behind when he double-bogeyed the eighth, while Els’ fellow South African Trevor Immelman, winner of the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open on Sunday, began with a double bogey and remained two over after eight.