PROFESSIONAL golf is getting under way again in different places around the world and one man who is especially pleased is Paul Casey, one of the heroes for Europe in last year’s Ryder Cup victory over the United States.

Starting today, Casey is playing in the Sony Open in Honolulu, the first full-field event on the US PGA Tour this year and Casey’s first tournament in the country since he made ill-advised remarks about Americans on the eve of the World Cup in Spain last November.

In an interview in The Sunday Times, Casey said that “Americans can be bloody annoying”, that “they do not travel enough” and that the Europe team “properly hated them” at Oakland Hills. When another British paper put some “spin” on these remarks and they were relayed to the US, Casey became the object of the anger of many Americans, players and fans alike, and received abusive e-mails.

Five years ago, Luke Donald and Casey were stars and golfing rivals at university in the US. Casey was known as “Spacey” while Donald, his fellow Englishman, was known as “Cool Hand”. Donald still is cool, but the nickname would seem to apply just as well to Casey, who finished equal sixth in last year’s Masters on his debut and equal tenth at The Players Championship.

The way that Casey handled himself during the storm he created during the World Cup was calm and mature. First, he declined to use the traditional excuse and claim that he had been misquoted. Thus all the blame went on to his shoulders. Then he and Donald won the World Cup for England.

In his defence, Casey pointed out again and again that he had an American girlfriend, that he went to university there, that he still lived in the US and that his coach was American. But he admitted that he expected there to be more pressure on him in Honolulu than usual.

“I’ll be more than happy to explain my position to anyone who asks,” Casey said. “When I do that, people are usually just fine. I’ve proved that I can focus under pressure and if there is a bit more pressure, I’ll handle it. I just want to concentrate on my golf.”

He will not be able to do that for a while because people will keep on bringing up his supposed anti-Americanism, but he will have other things on his mind because he has just signed a deal to use Nike equipment after Titleist, his former sponsor, declined to renew his contract after the World Cup.

Soon after returning to the US last November, Casey, who is ranked No 29 in the world, visited the research and development plant of his new sponsor in Fort Worth, Texas. He expected to receive some guidance as to the clubs, ball and footwear he should use this year. Instead, he was given a promise that Nike would help him by designing a club or ball for him any time he wanted it. All he has to do now is to learn how to use those clubs, win a few more tournaments and demonstrate that the promise he — and Donald — have shown is being realised.

If either are to win in Hawaii they will have to beat a strong field. Vijay Singh, the world No 1, and Retief Goosen, the US Open champion, also tee off today, but the favourite is Ernie Els, who will be bidding for his third successive triumph in the event. Els has fired 16 consecutive sub-70 rounds at the tournament’s permanent venue, never finishing worse than fifth.

Also taking part is Michelle Wie, the 15-year-old prodigy who narrowly failed to make the cut in last year’s event after a second-round 68. The Hawaiian is back again on a sponsor’s invitation.

Last year, Wie finished ahead of 48 PGA Tour regulars, of whom Todd Hamilton, the Open champion, Adam Scott and Steve Flesch are also in this week’s field. Wie is attempting to become the first female to make the cut in a men’s PGA Tour event.

Those who follow amateur golf and are looking forward to seeing whether Great Britain and Ireland can win an unprecedented fourth Walker Cup in a row in August will be disappointed to discover that the event in which Casey and Donald played with distinction clashes with the US PGA Championship. The last of the year’s four major championships will be held at Baltusrol in Springfield, New Jersey, from August 11 to 14 and the Walker Cup at the Chicago Golf Club over the weekend of August 13 and 14.

It is a decision that was taken advisedly by the United States Golf Association, which had to take other considerations about the amateur game in the US into account.