Golf icon Phil Mickelson has praised his LIV Golf compatriot Paul Casey for the remarkable 24-year journey with his coach Peter Kostis following their recent split.
Casey, a golfer with an impressive record boasting three PGA Tour wins and 15 DP World Tour triumphs, bid farewell to his longtime coach after two decades of collaboration. Kostis took to Twitter announcing the end of this significant partnership: “Every teacher/student relationship has a half-life.”
Championing the rarity of long-standing professional relationships, Kostis added, “Long-term relationships are getting rarer and rarer these days and I’m proud of the number of students I’ve had for 10-15-20-30 years and even longer in a few cases!”
The renowned coach expressed a heartfelt departure from Casey’s team, stating, “Reluctantly, after 24 years I feel it’s best for me to step away from my work with Paul Casey.
“My reasons are both personal and private and will remain as such. Helping him become an elite ball-striker and world-class player from the days he left ASU all the way to today was a very rewarding journey and I wish him well going forward.”
With Kostis’s mentorship, Casey climbed the ranks to become one of the world’s leading golfers, achieving a career-high third in the OWGR. The English golfer sparked headlines in 2022 for joining the high-profile breakaway league LIV Golf, where Mickelson had already made waves.
Mickelson joined the chorus of praise on social media, lauding the partnership success between Casey and Kostis by commenting, “What a long and successful partnership you have had together,” followed by “Congratulations to you both.”
Casey’s career has been on an upward trajectory, thanks to his coach Kostis. The golfer has seen victories across the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
However, two years ago, he controversially switched his allegiance to the LIV series.
Shortly after his move, Casey teamed up with US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau at Crushers GC. Together, they stormed to victory at the LIV Team Championship in Miami a year ago.
Despite failing to secure consecutive titles, falling at the semi-finals to IronHeads in Dallas last month, Casey’s performance throughout the 2024 LIV season was noteworthy. He secured the 11th spot in the league rankings.
One of his standout moments was a thrilling showdown in Hong Kong where he finished runner-up alongside Cam Smith, narrowly losing the top spot to Abraham Ancer after a tense playoff.
