PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Paul Azinger, a member of four Ryder Cup Teams and winner of the 1993 PGA Championship, has been has been selected by The Professional Golfers’ Association of America to captain the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup Team. Azinger will guide a 12-member team in the 37th Ryder Cup, Sept. 16-21, 2008, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
Azinger, 46, competed on the 1989, ’91, ’93 and 2002 Ryder Cup Teams, and was an inspirational leader during that period, including a 2-0-2 record in singles. The winner of 12 PGA Tour events, Azinger captured the 1993 PGA Championship in a memorable playoff against Greg Norman, four months before being diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. He recovered from his illness to post a strong 1998 season and won the 2000 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Azinger is the 25th Ryder Cup Captain and the 15th PGA Champion to guide a team in one of the world’s most compelling sports events. He has won 14 worldwide professional championships since becoming a Tour professional in 1981.
He will lead a U.S. Team that has not won possession of the Ryder Cup since 1999, and has weathered two successive 18½ to 9½ defeats to Europe, the latter coming last September at The K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland. Europe has won possession of the Ryder Cup in eight of the past 11 competitions.
"Paul Azinger’s passion for the game, his courage to battle back from debilitating disease and his leadership in past Ryder Cups make him the ideal leader to guide the American team in 2008 at Valhalla," said PGA of America President Roger Warren. "Paul is one of the game’s biggest supporters of the Ryder Cup and his performances have earned him the respect of his peers as well as many around the world."
In 2005, Azinger served as a golf analyst for the ABC network, working alongside Ryder Cup veteran Nick Faldo, who was selected in 2004 to serve as the 2008 European Ryder Cup Captain. Azinger and Faldo have competed against one another four times in the Ryder Cup, with Azinger owning a 2-0-2 advantage. The series included a memorable halved singles match in 1993 at The Belfry, in which Faldo registered a hole-in-one.
Azinger is a native of Holyoke, Mass., and a resident of Bradenton, Fla. He attended Brevard Junior College and Florida State University before turning professional in 1981. He captured his first Tour victory in 1987 and also earned that year’s PGA Player of the Year Award. In 1995, he was honored by the Golf Writers Association of America with the Ben Hogan Award, presented to an individual who remains active in golf despite physical handicap or serious illness.
Azinger and his wife, Toni, have two daughters: Sarah Jean, 21; and Josie Lynn, 15.
Azinger joins a succession of golf’s greatest players in the role of Ryder Cup Captain. Walter Hagen, the first Captain in 1927, was followed by such legendary performers as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino.
Valhalla Golf Club, which has been the site of some of golf’s most memorable championships, will host its first Ryder Cup. Designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus in 1986, Valhalla Golf Club is undergoing a multi-million dollar modification program that is headed by Nicklaus.
In 1996, Valhalla hosted its first PGA Championship won by Mark Brooks in a playoff over Kenny Perry. Three years later, Tiger Woods and Bob May left an indelible mark on major championship golf lore as they competed in one of the greatest single-day duels in a major championship. Woods prevailed in a three-hole aggregate score playoff but only after May’s 30-foot birdie putt missed by inches on the 18th hole.
Valhalla also hosted the 2002 PGA Professional National Championship, and in 2004, Hale Irwin birdied the 72nd hole to capture his fourth Senior PGA Championship by one stroke over Jay Haas.
The Ryder Cup began in 1927 when enterprising English seed merchant Samuel Ryder commissioned the casting of a gold chalice that bears his name. The U.S. Team defeated Great Britain, 9½ to 2½, in the inaugural matches in Worcester, Mass.
Since then, except for a span (1939-45) during World War II and following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks upon America, the Ryder Cup has been held biennially with the U.S. and Europe alternating as host. Since 1985, Europe owns a 7-3-1 advantage in golf’s preeminent event.
The PGA of America’s point system to determine eight of the 12 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team begins in Jan. 7, 2007, and concludes Aug. 10, 2008, at the 90th PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Mich.
Celebrating its 90th anniversary, The PGA of America was founded in 1916, and is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.
Contact:
Julius Mason
561/624-8444
jmason@pgahq.com