AUSTIN, Texas – Paul Casey has conceded his Thursday morning Group 10 match against Swede Alex Noren at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play after being unable to recover from a back injury. Casey played just two holes against Corey Conners on Wednesday before spasms forced him from Austin Country Club, but after treatment the Englishman had hoped to take on Noren to keep his tournament hopes alive. But after attempting a warmup early Thursday it became apparent he could not continue. “The pain I’m feeling is in the lower back, left side, it’s like spasms and I saw Jason in the truck yesterday and he said your glutes are not firing which made me giggle. Clearly it is a thing when you get to your 40s … and that’s what is causing the pain and spasms up the back,” Casey said. “Jason was really good in the truck. We did everything to try to play. We taped up my back, we did ice, we did physio, we did heat, we did drugs … and I wanted to play but even after another round of treatment this morning it was tender on the putting green, started to feel it on the chipping green and then couldn’t get past a 9-iron (on the range).” Casey hasn’t yet conceded his Friday match against Louis Oosthuizen despite the fact he will now be unable to advance to the round of 16, but it is likely he won’t hit another ball in competition as he looks ahead to his next event at the Masters. The 44-year-old couldn’t pinpoint how the injury occurred but suggested it could be from fatigue after THE PLAYERS Championship which was played in tough, wet and cold conditions. Casey was third at TPC Sawgrass behind winner Cameron Smith and India’s Anirban Lahiri. He remained confident he could play at Augusta National next month. Noren now leads Group 10 in Austin with two points, giving him a great chance to advance to the final 16 this weekend. Oosthuizen and Conners play Thursday, with the South African needing to win to stay alive. Casey was hoping to replicate previous match play success in Austin. A seasoned Ryder Cup star for Europe, he finished runner-up in this tournament in 2009 and 2010. He also made the quarterfinals in the first year of the new pool-play format in 2015, losing to eventual champion Rory McIlroy in 22 holes.
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