Straight driving is focus of world number three Casey

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Britain's Paul Casey, although brimful of confidence while enjoying the most successful season of his career, has played down his lofty world ranking ahead of this week's British Open.

In the absence of world number two Phil Mickelson, third-ranked Casey is headed by only Tiger Woods in the Turnberry field but he believes several players are capable of winning the third major of the year.

"It's exciting to be the second highest-ranked guy here but it doesn't really mean anything," Casey told reporters on Tuesday after playing a practice round with fellow Englishmen Nick Dougherty and Justin Rose.

"You hope you get a little bit of luck with the draw and you've got to play extremely good golf here. It's as simple as that.

"There's a whole bunch of guys who are capable of winning this thing," added Casey, who has triumphed twice on the European Tour this year and once on the lucrative U.S. circuit.

"This is a tee-shot golf course. Obviously Tiger is the favourite but he's going to have to drive the ball extremely well if he wants to win.

"Somebody who does that well and manages their game for 72 holes is going to be the guy who has a chance come Sunday, and that's what I've got to do. Being ranked number three in the world means absolutely nothing so far for this week."

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