Paul Casey’s bid to turn a six-shot cushion into a long-awaited title ended in a playoff loss on Sunday, when Thriston Lawrence beat him on the fourth extra hole to win the European Masters in Switzerland. Casey, 49, finished level on 18 under after a final-round 68, then watched Lawrence close with a 62 to match him and force the playoff at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans-Montana.
The result mattered immediately for Casey because it ended a chance to collect the first prize of $637,500, money he had already pledged to donate to the victims of the New Year’s Eve fire that killed 40 people in the Swiss mountain resort. Instead, he will pass on the runners-up prize of $412,500 to Fondation Beloved, a gesture that keeps the charity link intact even after the defeat.
Lawrence’s win was his third at the European Masters and brought him level with Seve Ballesteros, a mark that gives the finish a place in the tournament’s history. Harry Hall was third on 17 under after a closing 63, but the afternoon belonged to the duel between Lawrence and Casey, who started the final day six shots clear and still led late on despite the wobble that opened the door.
That wobble came early. Casey dropped shots on three of his opening eight holes, including a double bogey six at the sixth, and was two over for the day after an eighth-hole bogey. He then steadied himself with five birdies in the next seven holes to reclaim the lead, made par on the 16th after getting up and down from a greenside bunker and narrowly missed a birdie putt on the 17th. But the margin he rebuilt kept shrinking, and the missed putts that mattered most arrived when the pressure was highest.
Casey had been chasing his 16th DP World Tour win and his first since the Dubai Desert Classic in January 2021, yet the closing stretch left him with another near miss instead of a trophy. Lawrence, who said he had rarely shown more emotion in a happy moment, described fighting for everything and feeling for Casey after a playoff in which the 49-year-old “played great golf” but could not finish the job. For Casey, the cause he was backing will still receive the money, but the title he wanted slipped away on the fourth extra hole.
