Casey in pole to claim award

It's a most unusual quality for any professional golfer, given they're involved in probably the most selfish sport of all, but Paul Casey - on the verge of a huge personal milestone - is almost contrite at finding himself on top of the money pile going into the season-ending Volvo Masters and within touching distance of actually claiming the "holy grail" that is the Harry Vardon trophy, awarded to the player who tops the PGA European Tour's Order of Merit.

Casey was in somewhat apologetic mood at Valderrama yesterday, on the eve of the tournament. He felt sorry for his great friend, David Howell, a player plagued by injury in recent months. And he also had sympathy, too, for the fact he was likely to claim an Order of Merit title ahead of Padraig Harrington, someone who, despite an age gap of only six years, he has modelled much of his game on.

Of Harrington's influence on him since he turned professional after the 1999 Walker Cup, Casey observed: "He's one of the guys that I try and chase in my career. He's still ahead of me in the world rankings, but he has won many, many events around the world and I see him as a guy I always need to chase. I look to him, to pick up tips and to see what he is doing. I respect Padraig's work ethic.

"I think he has great control of the golf ball. I remember playing with him in the Irish Open this year and how the weather never fazed him. I looked at his demeanour, the way he carried himself, and I've since tried to emulate that.

"Padraig's certainly on my list of guys who deserves to win majors and to win Order of Merits.

"Yes, it does surprise me that he hasn't won one yet but it is because there is so many other great players on tour. It's always tough to win and, unfortunately, there's only one guy who can win the Order of Merit every year."

Unquestionably, Casey is the player in pole position to top this season's money list, after a season highlighted by his win in the World Matchplay.

The Englishman has €218,185 to spare over his nearest pursuer, Harrington. But Howell - should he play - and Sweden's Robert Karlsson are also in a position to overhaul Casey on the money list.

Harrington would need to win or finish second (with Casey worse than third should the Irishman finish second), while Howell and Karlsson would each need to win.

Casey and Harrington will get a worm's eye view of each other in today's first round. And, like Harrington, Casey would like that the two of them play well.

"If somebody gets off to a quick start, you can sort of hang onto their coat tails and get dragged along a little bit," said Casey, who has not played in two weeks since the Dunhill Links in Scotland, holidaying for a few days in Florida and then working on his game in Arizona before returning back across the Atlantic in an attempt to seal his quest for the money title.

There doesn't seem to be any immediate end to Howell's litany of injury woes. Howell, in actual fact, has delayed making a decision on whether to play here until shortly before his scheduled tee time as he struggles to overcome a shoulder injury.

"I'm struggling to make a wise decision," confessed Howell, who underwent intensive physiotherapy. "If I go out and play with the state the muscles are in, and if I tear something, then I'm out for the rest of the year."

Howell's plight has touched Casey. "I truly believe that David has played some of the best golf of anybody in Europe this season and probably should be leading rightly," he said.

The bottom line is that Casey is the one heading the Order of Merit coming into the season's finale, although the heavy rain that disrupted yesterday's pro-am, on top of the rain fall of the past two weeks, has made Valderrama a much different test that the one traditionally presented to players. Harrington, for one, believes the changed conditions will benefit him.

"I've struggled here in the past when the fairways and greens have been fiery, I think the fact that they're softer and the course is playing longer suits my game," said Harrington, one of four Irish players - along with Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane and Graeme McDowell - in the field.

McGinley, the defending champion, comes in on the back of just his second top-10 finish of the season, in last week's Mallorca Classic. "There have been encouraging signs the last few weeks. I feel I am on my way back to playing the golf that I know at I'm capable of playing. This game is all about ball control, distance control and patience and I had lost those three things during the summer," he said.

It's a measure of how much McGrane has raised the bar for himself that his career-best finish on the Order of Merit (which could improve further after the Volvo Masters) has left him with a sense of underachievement.

"It's been a strange season for me and I just under-achieved. I just didn't make the most of my efforts and it's just that I expected more of my opportunities but I've got myself to 54th on the Order of Merit, the highest in my career, the hard way.

"I got myself in position so many times to get great results but I just didn't do it. I have wasted opportunities, which has been disappointing - but I still have the opportunity again this week to improve my position."

As Casey knows, there are different challenges facing every one of the 54 players in the field.

His is to stay on top of the money list; for the rest, victory could bring a career defining moment!