Paul Casey has just six rounds at Augusta National Golf Club under his belt, but those are enough to convince the Englishman that the Masters Tournament is the major championship that best fits his game.

Paul Casey won three times in 2006 on the European Tour and finished second on the Order of Merit money list. He jumped from 59th in the World Golf Ranking this time last year to the top 15. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

Casey, 29, was the 2006 player of the year on the European Tour. He tied for sixth place in his Masters debut in 2004, shooting 286. He followed that with a missed cut (157) in 2005 and didn't qualify last year.

Though Casey said his homeland's British Open "is probably the one I want to win the most," he thinks the Masters "is probably my best opportunity."

His game is suited to Augusta National, Casey said, because he's a good driver who can work shots both ways. That sets him up for approach shots to demanding greens and pin positions where ball placement is key.

"I have the ability to hit long, soft irons and ... you need to be able to do that," Casey said. "You need to be able to have very good control of your ball flight."

That brings Casey to the slick and undulating greens.

"If I can get the short game going ... you've got to have soft hands and wonderful touch around those greens," he said. "But I'm a good enough putter, and I've putted on those greens before. So I know how scary they can be."

Casey calls Augusta National "one of the coolest golf courses I've ever played. It's a fun golf course; at the same time it can be the most penal golf course on the planet.

"But great golf shots are rewarded at Augusta National, and that's how they set it up," Casey said. "They can set it up to infuriate the players, but they are still allowing a great golf shot to be rewarded. It's a beautiful blend."

A disappointing 2005 season kept Casey out of last year's Masters. He did, however, watch it on television.

"It was very tough because normally I wouldn't watch a golf tournament if I'm not playing in it," Casey said. "For me, the Masters is completely different from the other three majors. It's just a uniqueness and very cool atmosphere and obviously a golf course I really love, so it was difficult watching it. I'm not very good at watching golf."

Casey's longtime instructor, Peter Kostis, told him to watch it as a form of motivation.

"He said sort of get (upset) that you're not there," Casey said. "It seemed to work out quite well."

Indeed, Casey is in this year's Masters after a breakthrough year in 2006 on the European Tour, where he won three times, finished second on the Order of Merit (the tour's money list) and was a Ryder Cup hero.

"This guy is scary good," said Rocco Mediate, who played with Casey in the first two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in mid-March. "He's got the whole package. ... Is he a potential major winner? Yeah, because he drives it beautifully. That's what I always look at with these young guys, how do they drive it? Because you can't win majors without driving it. He really drives it well."

The improvement in Casey's game can be seen in his place in the World Golf Ranking. The week of the 2006 Masters, Casey ranked 59th. Today, he's in the top 15.

Casey said he "put in the work" to regain the form he lost in 2005 after being encouraged by Kostis.

"I owe a lot to Peter because he's worked with me my entire professional career and he's seen the highs and lows, and he was instrumental in turning my game around in the past year and a half or two years," Casey said. "Last year's success, I mean, I've got to hit the ball, but he was firmly pushing me. Without him, it wouldn't have happened."

To that end, Kostis encouraged Casey to focus on short-term goals instead of the long-term ones he had in the past.

"Being outside the top 50 sort of helped in that decision because the immediate goal was to get back in the top 50," Casey said. "Once I had achieved that, we then structured a goal sort of every week or every couple of weeks and even daily goals. It kept me very much in the moment, and I didn't let the mind wander sort of too far ahead."

One immediate goal was to be ranked in the top two on the Order of Merit last season and thus qualify for the HSBC World Match Play tournament in England. Casey, who made the field by being second in the Order of Merit at the time, ended up beating Shaun Micheel by a record 10 and 8 in the 36-hole final.

"Winning that was a huge boost of confidence, as was the Ryder Cup," Casey said.

Casey was one of the stars of the 2006 matches, going 2-0-2 as Europe again rolled to victory. He hit one of the most memorable shots of the matches when his hole-in-one on No. 14 at the K Club in Ireland closed out a foursome match.

Casey already has won this year, at the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January, his eighth career win on that tour.

"This year, one of the goals I have is I would love to be in the top 10 in the world," Casey said. "I want to try to get there as soon as possible, and slowly move up. ... I think you've got to want to be in that select group. You've got to want to be one of the best players in the world. I need to work hard on the mental side of things and really push myself. But I think the golf game is good enough."

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.