Paul Casey WDs from WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play with back spasms

AUSTIN, Texas – Paul Casey has withdrawn from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play with back spasms after conceding his first two matches.

Casey made it two holes before conceding his first-day match to Corey Conners with back spasms and the Englishman started his warm-up when he conceded his Day 2 match against Alex Noren.

“I wanted to play today, but it hurt. I was tender on the putting green and then started to feel it on the chipping green and then couldn’t get past a 9-iron [in his warm-up],” Casey said. “I’m not going to injure it any more. It’s just a muscular thing that just hurts.”

Casey said he spent more than an hour in the physio trailer early Thursday getting treatment and applying KT Tape to his lower back, but his back quickly began to spasm, which the trainers told him was because his “glutes were switched off.”

Matches and scoring from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship

“I’ve probably had this about four or five times the last 20 years, so it’s not an injury. It could just be fatigue, maybe back from The Players with the cold weather and travelling,” he said.

Initially, Casey wasn’t sure if he was going to withdraw from the event. Because of the round-robin format used for the WGC-Match Play, he could still play his Friday match against Louis Oosthuizen even though there was no chance for him to advance to the knockout rounds.

“I don’t know. I can’t go through [to the weekend] so I guess it’s like what’s the point?” Casey said when asked about playing Friday. “I hate to just give a guy a match and that would be Louis tomorrow, but I guess it makes it even, doesn’t it? I gave one to [Corey Conners], about to give one to Alex [Noren].”

Oosthuizen will be awarded the point for Friday’s match and will finish the week 1-2-0.