With Tiger Woods' in danger of losing his No. 1 ranking and struggling to find his game, Paul Casey says this week's PGA Championship could be there for the taking.
Casey says the 14-time major winner's woes on the golf course are a topic conversation in the players' locker room and the Englishman feels he has as good chance as anyone to succeed at this week's PGA Championship.
"I am a much better player than I was back in 2001 when I first got on the professional tour," Casey said between practice rounds on Tuesday.
"Even when you get these guys, Phil (Mickelson) and Tiger, playing great golf, we now are at a level where we can compete with them.
"Maybe not day in and day out but when we are at our best, we can certainly win tournaments when they are in the field."
There have been six first-time winners in the past seven major championships and the door is open for another newcomer to join the club says Casey. Woods has lost some of his aura and Mickelson revealled Tuesday he has been diagnosed with a severe but treatable form of arthritis.
"There is a slightly different feel," said Casey, who is fresh off a tie for third place at the British Open at St. Andrews.
"Certainly this week, the feeling in the locker room is different. Guys feel with the way he (Woods) played the past week that this is wide open. That's not a feeling a lot of guys have had before.
"Graeme McDowell played tremendous golf at the US Open. So did Louis (Oosthuizen) at the Open Championship. That combined with the way Tiger played last week I think guys now feel that there are multiple possible winners this week. It's not a feeling we've had in a while."
Casey missed the 2009 PGA Championship with a rib injury and didn't make the cut at Whistling Straits in 2004. He said he can relate to what Woods is going through because he had to battle his own troubles a couple of years ago.
"If you don't have stuff in the right place or if you are not happy away from the golf course then you are not going to find it on the golf course," Casey said.
"When I was playing my worst golf I was also very unhappy off the golf course and vice versa."
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
