DP World Tour : Omega European Masters..Tee Times
The Englishman, who has 15 DP World Tour titles to his name, improved his chances of bettering his best result here when finishing third 21 years ago thanks to his blistering start at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
After opening with two pars, Casey went on to birdie six of the next seven holes to reach the turn in 29 and surge into a two-shot advantage at -15.
His scoring stalled on the back nine as he traded shots at the 14th and 15th before finishing with a closing birdie for a total of -16.
Casey now 49, lives in Switzerland and revealed he will donate all of his prize money to the Fondation Beloved charity, which helps those affected by the tragic New Year's Day fire in Crans Montana.
"There was so much (to enjoy), maybe saving some of them pars coming in late, but birdie on 18 though, that was the highlight of the day with the great Swiss crowd. I love this place, I really do, so it's a wonderful day," the 49-year-old said.
"I honestly feel really good and I feel somewhat fresh, probably because I haven't played that much golf because I've missed a bit.
"This is now home. I now live in Switzerland, so it would mean an awful lot. It feels like a home week for me.
"And tomorrow, whatever happens, I hope I win, and I'll be playing really hard, but I'll make sure that all my prize money as well is going to the charity and the victims of the fire here in Crans Montana, so I've got a lot to play for tomorrow."
STATUS
Casey has been invited to play on a sponsors exemption. He quit the DP World Tour in 2022 to play full times LIV which he still does.
He will be able to keep the $637,500 if he wins, and will give it all to the Charity before returning to LIV. He can only return to DP World Tour if he applies for re-instatment and pays any conflicting event fines.
He will get owgr points but no Race to Dubai points.
THE REST
Overnight leader Thriston Lawrence teed off with a two-shot lead, but after difficulty at the first he found himself with a lengthy par putt.
Nacho Elvira had birdied the opening hole to halve the deficit and when Lawrence could not drain his par effort, he joined the Spaniard at -12.
That was the South African's first dropped shot in 52 holes, however, Lawrence bounced back immediately to regain the solo lead at the second.
His rollercoaster round continued with a bogey at the third as he sat alongside Elvira and Maximilian Steinlechner, who had rolled in his sixth birdie of the day at the 14th to climb up to -12.
Steinlechner added another birdie at the 17th and set the clubhouse target at -13 with Erik van Rooyen joining him at that mark.
Cards of 63 were the order of the day with Steinlechner flawless in his -7 round, while Van Rooyen mixed nine birdies with two dropped shots to sit in a share of second at -13.
They were joined at -13 by Spanish pair Eugenio Chacarra and Elvira, who registered respective third rounds of 65 and 68.
Another Spaniard, Angel Ayora, is one shot further back in 6th -12, while Italy's Francesco Laporta, Englishman Todd Clements and Japan's Keita Nakajima are all at -11.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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