There were two keys to this decision. First, he is outside the top-50 in the world rankings and, as a result, is not exempt for majors and World Golf Championships, which count for both Tours. In order to be members of the PGA and European Tours, players must play 15 and 13 events, respectively. In 2014, Casey played 16 PGA Tour events and 13 European Tour events (some events counted for both tours). Casey probably did not want go through all the traveling again. My feeling is that once he gets himself back into the top-50, he will rejoin his home tour. But it will not be until 2016. Another reason for focusing on the PGA Tour this season is the fact that he became a father late last year and he wants to spend more time with his new son and fiancé, English TV presenter, Pollyanna Woodward. The repercussions of this announcement include not being able to be selected for the Ryder Cup, unless he rejoins the Tour. All potential European Ryder Cup players must be members of the European Tour. Casey has played in three Ryder Cups (2004, 2006, and 2008).
Quotes from Casey regarding this situation:
"For as long as I have been a professional I have been a member of the European Tour, so it was a very tough decision," he said. "But I live in Arizona and playing in America full-time will enable me to spend more time at home with Pollyanna (his wife) and Lex (his son). That’s really become the focus for me."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-2912939/Paul-Casey-sacrifices-future-Ryder-Cup-selection-quitting-European-Tour-America.html#ixzz3P6JIS8nV
"For a long, long time now, I've been trying to play both the PGA Tour and the European Tour, and some years I've done it brilliantly, and other years I've failed miserably, and I just didn't want to keep putting myself in kind of a position where I'm struggling to fly around the world, play the numbers, keep my World Ranking at a certain number, and not being in the top 50 is really difficult to play both tours."
Other news
In other news, four-time PGA Tour winner Patrick Reed will be joining the European Tour. Reed, who has four wins since late 2013, was one of the few bright spots for the United States in last year's Ryder Cup. Reed, 24, made a bold statement following his win at last year's WGC-Cadillac Championship when he said that he was "a top-5 player." The quote seemed crazy at the time, but he is up to 14th in the world rankings and looks to be a potential star in the making. Another American, Rickie Fowler, is likely to join the Tour in the coming years as well. There could very well be a trend of top Americans joining Europe's tour.
