Paul Casey came within a handful of putts of ending a five-year title drought at the Omega European Masters, only to lose a four-hole playoff to Thriston Lawrence at Crans-sur-Sierre. But the LIV Golf veteran had already made the decision that mattered more than the outcome for him. Days before the final round, Casey pledged that his entire prize money, win or lose, would go to the victims of the Crans Montana bar that killed 41 people on New Year’s Day. So now he lost the tournament, sure, but he has kept his promise anyway, handing over more than $400,000.

As reported by NUCLR Golf on X, “Despite losing in a sudden-death playoff today at The Omega European Masters, LIV Golf’s Paul Casey will donate his entire tournament winnings ($412,500) to victims impacted by the Crans-Montana fires. Casey now calls Switzerland home and resides there.”

The Englishman had a three-shot lead heading into the final round after a third-round 63. He is chasing his first worldwide title since 2021, the Dubai Desert Classic. But that cushion slipped away from him in an agonizing fashion.

Casey was leading the round by one on the 72nd hole when his approach shot from the rough bounced off a rock and went over a creek before settling in thick grass. Naturally, it was a critical situation for him, and it led to a bogey, dropping him into a playoff.

From there, Casey missed four putts across his final regulation hole and the first three playoff holes. That opportunity was taken by South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who sank a 20-foot birdie on the fourth extra hole to win his third European Masters title. With that, Lawrence matched Seve Ballesteros’s record at the event.

As for Casey, his second-place check came to $412,500. But he had already decided where the money would go.

“I now live in Switzerland, so it would mean an awful lot. It feels like a home week for me,” he said after his third round. “And tomorrow, whatever happens, I hope I win, but I’ll be playing really hard. But I’ll make sure that all my prize money as well is going to the charity and victims of the fire here in Crans-Montana.”

The fire he was referring to broke out at a bar in Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing 41 people and injuring 115 others. Casey relocated to Switzerland and calls the tournament his home event, which made the tragedy personal rather than distant. The gesture also came at a low point of his season, a stretch that makes the decision carry more weight rather than less.

A golfer with little recent form to lean on still gave away the biggest paycheck of his year. A wrist injury had forced him out of LIV Golf Korea in May and kept him sidelined for stretches after, leaving this week as his only DP World Tour start of the year, played on a sponsor’s invite. Moreover, he hasn’t cracked a DP World Tour top 10 since 2024 and hasn’t played in a major since the 2022 Open Championship.

Lawrence, who beat him, admitted afterward, “I feel for Paul. He played great golf, and it looked like it was his all day.”

Other Pro Golfers Who Took the Initiative

Casey’s decision isn’t the first time a golfer has redirected winnings toward victims of a crisis. In 2020, South Korean golfer So Yeon Ryu donated her entire winnings from the Korean Women’s Open, roughly $200,000, to COVID-19 relief efforts, becoming one of several golfers who opened their wallets during the pandemic alongside Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.

The connection to wildfire relief, especially, has also been a recent precedent on tour. Following the Los Angeles fires in January 2025, LPGA sponsors committed $6.5 million toward relief efforts tied to the JM Eagle LA Championship, offering free admission to residents affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires across the tournament’s four competition days.