Captain's Corner

By Bob Verdi
Photos By Stephen Munday/Getty Images September 12, 2008

Shortly after being appointed captain of the 2008 United States Ryder Cup team, Paul Azinger ignited a revision of the selection process, a significant overhaul that provided him four wild-card picks instead of two. Any ill-advised doubt about his commitment to the task dissolved, but the PGA of America could not have been surprised, for that is his modus operandi. Azinger made himself a world-class golfer, he then became a popular TV analyst, and along the way, he beat cancer with a proactive personality embellished by candor and wit. With the biennial matches against Europe at Valhalla GC around the corner, Azinger fielded questions from Golf World as one would expect: enthusiastically, without looking at his wristwatch and no topic out-of-bounds.

Golf World: Paul Azinger, captain of the 2008 United States Ryder Cup team, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Azinger: I do. Why would you ask me a question like that?

Because Kenny Perry, one of the players on your team, recently said that you told him you might have to lie to the media once in a while about your plans against Europe.

He did? I wish he hadn't said that. But I'm not going to lie to you, at least now. I did tell him that because I can't tell you everything. I won't lie to my players, though, and that's no lie.

That's OK. We've been lied to before. Anyway, you and your opposing captain, Nick Faldo, have some history. For one, his first major triumph, the 1987 British Open, was at your expense.

I bogeyed the last two holes at Muirfield after leading the whole week. Actually, I wasn't even going to go. I had the flu, my regular caddie wasn't with me, I had jet lag and all that from my first trip to Europe. I was nervous, I don't eat well when I'm nervous and probably ran out of gas. I don't feel like I choked.

Did you know Faldo at the time?

I played with him Saturday, too, but had never heard of him and had no impression of him. He doesn't talk much, as you know, but neither did I. When I play, I'm not looking for conversation. The locker room is different. Now, a huge irony. Ironies. We wind up in the TV booth together, we're doing Citibank commercials together and we're opposing Ryder Cup captains. Interesting dynamic. And we're friends.

Are you more popular among your peers than he is among his?

Well, I've already been documented on that (laugh). There's the old Faldo and the new Faldo. He never said anything when he was playing, and I totally understand. He was possessed, and his personality was that of having to be in control of everything. Very bright, really thorough. He approached every tournament like a math problem. He was an introvert who needed to be that way to be successful. I would watch him practice, or we'd play a practice round, and I'd think to myself, "I should be doing what he's doing." But that just wasn't me.

A lot of people would be disappointed to hear that you consider him a friend.

Not people I care about. I could see where some people want a little of that controversy, but the Ryder Cup is way bigger than Nick and Paul. It's not about whether we go to dinner, which we have. To pit Nick against me in some kind of war and get the players sucked into that would be unfair to them and the event.

What about Faldo's remark that a player with your technique could never go far?

That was one interview a long time ago, and he got trapped into it by a writer asking whether someone with a homemade grip and a hatchet swing could win a major. Nick explained how it happened, and I believe him. Those words were not his.

But your technique has been doubted, correct?

So was Lee Trevino's. Not that I'm a Lee Trevino. Or Jim Furyk, or Kenny Perry, or John Daly, who won two majors taking it back two feet past parallel. Corey Pavin, there's another one. I think I'm an overachiever.

Is a Ryder Cup captain's role overrated?

I might have felt that before, but now that I'm involved, I see it as really, really important. Our selection process was obsolete, as I've often said, and the PGA of America was great with everything I asked to get this thing right. Otherwise, there's so much stuff going on that I can't talk about now. But these guys don't need their hands held, and I can't teach them how to play golf. Less is more. Have a good time. But be ready for the first tee. You can't have a great time all week, then get to the first tee and be freaked out. This isn't the Presidents Cup. The Ryder Cup doesn't come without pressure. There might not have been pressure when we won all the time, but this isn't your daddy's Ryder Cup.