‘Captain America’ tells tales of Ryder triumph

They say that a man’s life can be summed up by one line on his tombstone.

In Paul Azinger’s case, that legacy might be pretty simple for someone who has had a fairly illustrious professional golf career: “He was known as Captain America.”
Ask Azinger today about his proudest achievement in professional golf, and no doubt he would say it was being the captain of the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team at Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Ky.
This week, it was my privilege to sit down and listen to “Zinger” reveal some first-time stories from the recent U.S. Ryder Cup win as we both attended the Golf Industry Show in New Orleans.
“I am all about cash and prestige,” Azinger said. “That’s why I thought it was critical to have the PGA of America reward those two things when it came to Ryder Cup points.
“It’s pretty simple. You only get points for the money you win in the four majors in the year before the Ryder Cup. The year of the competition, all events count, and the majors are double.”
This week, Azinger revealed the compelling strategy behind the selection of his team.
He admitted that leading up to the early-September deadline to make his four captain’s picks, even he had doubts about the ability of the U.S. team to win the Ryder Cup.
“Let’s face it, the United States
had won just three Ryder Cups since 1983,” he said. “One of those was the miracle comeback at Brookline (Mass.). Another was when Bernhard Langer missed a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole of the final match at Kiawah (S.C.). Those two things don’t happen, and we win once in the last 25 years.
“This year, the final six winners of the PGA Tour events leading up to the captain’s picks were all foreign players. I had this list of 20 to 25 candidates, and I didn’t like the looks of any of them. But when I profiled the personality traits of the players and matched them with the pods I established for the players that automatically made the team, I liked them all.”
Azinger implemented what he calls a “militaristic approach” used by Navy SEALS to place his 12 players into three groups called pods. He matched players with similar personality traits into the same pod. The aggressive pod consisted of Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan. The steady, supportive Pod was filled by Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Steve Stricker and Chad Campbell. The compliant pod featured Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry, Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes.
“Furyk could have fit into any of the pods,” Azinger said. “Kenny and J.B. had lots of pressure to deal with because they were from Kentucky. Those two and Boo can kind of get down on themselves when things go bad, so I told Furyk that he needed to be the encourager. Then, Jim and I renamed this pod the ‘redneck pod.’”
The rest was history, and the United States charged to a victory. And here are some Ryder Cup anecdotes from Azinger.
On Kim:
“He comes up to me on Wednesday night and says, ‘Cap, you have to call Faldo right now and tell him that Phil and I want a piece of Sergio. We want to kick his butt.’
“When Anthony and Phil were three down after five in the opening match against Karlssen and Harrington, I walked up to Anthony and said, ‘You said you were going to show off, and you ain’t showed me squat.’ To which Kim replied, ‘Relax we’re gonna win this match two up.’”
On Weekley:
“You know this guy is crazy. He got paid $50 to get into a boxing ring with an orangutan in college. Boo got knocked out with one punch.
“We are walking to the first tee on Sunday and he says, ‘Mr. Zing, I am nervous.’ I looked at him and said, ‘See all of these fans? They are your people. Embrace the crowd. Just have fun.’
“Five minutes later he has that driver between his legs and he is galloping off the first tee.”
On Holmes:
“Early in the week, J.B. says that he hopes somebody makes him mad because that is when he plays his best.
“He goes out for the first time on Friday afternoon and is hitting it all over the place. I am in the clubhouse watching it on TV. I head out the door and hear Dan Hicks from NBC say something about Lee Westwood getting peeved about the crowd reaction to J.B. and Boo.
“As I am driving out to Hole 8 to find J.B., I call his swing coach on my cell phone. He says to tell J.B. to bring it down from the inside. I get out there and tell J.B. what his swing coach said.
“As I am walking away, I say they just said on TV that Westwood is accusing you and Boo of distracting him with the crowd. To which J.B. says, ‘He really said that?’ And he played the next 11 holes 6-under par.”
There’s plenty more. Azinger is working on a “tell-all” book about the Ryder Cup that promises to be entertaining.
Tiger ready to roar?
According to Casey Bierder from the Golf Channel, Tiger Woods could be opting for a return to the PGA Tour at Bay Hill on March 26-29. Bierder said this will be the most publicized sporting event of the year.
Golf Channel’s analyst also said the LPGA Tour has 16 sponsor agreements that will expire at the end of the year. Many fear it could be the end of the women’s professional golf tour given the current economic crisis and the uncertainty of obtaining new sponsors.
And surely, spring is just around the corner.
Ted Bishop is director of golf for The Legends of Indiana Golf Course and secretary of the PGA of America.
Photo Caption: They say that a man’s life can be summed up by one line on his tombstone.
In Paul Azinger’s case, that legacy might be pretty simple for someone who has had a fairly illustrious professional golf career: “He was known as Captain America.”
Ask Azinger today about his proudest achievement in professional golf, and no doubt he would say it was being the captain of the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team at Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Ky.