Singh, Casey pull out of Houston Open

Houston: Fiji’s Vijay Singh and defending champion Paul Casey of England both withdrew from the Houston Open on Thursday with injuries.

Singh played nine holes of the first round, shooting a 43 that included two double-bogeys before calling it a day with a sore back. He withdrew from the Transitions Championship a fortnight ago with what he believes was the same injury. “I think it’s the recurrence,” Singh said. “It’s not as bad as what it was in Tampa, but I think if I kept going, it was going to go that way.” Singh tied for fourth at the Honda Classic and tied for 11th at Doral before the Transitions event. He said he’ll take the next four days off and “see what happens.” “It affects me when I’m hitting balls,” he said. “It’s not my normal golf swing.” Casey pulled out with a left shoulder injury. With the Masters coming up next week, the 32-year-old Englishman said he hoped the injury was “just a one-week thing”. Bureau Report