ORLANDO, Fla. – Sergio Garcia can’t like this. Not after “El Nino” capped Europe’s nine-point victory at the 2006 Ryder Cup with a carefully aimed dig at anyone who had ever wondered aloud if the Nationwide Tour was a deeper circuit than the European Tour.
“Hopefully we won’t get asked if the Nationwide Tour is the second-best tour in the world anymore,” Garcia smiled that cool evening in Ireland.
Garcia and the rest of the rolling Europeans may get a chance to see just how competitive America’s secondary circuit is later this year when the matches resume at Valhalla in Kentucky thanks to Paul Azinger, who forged a career out of being a fearless competitor and is etching his Ryder Cup legacy in similarly indomitable terms.
But then, this will not be the last time Azinger will rock the Ryder Cup boat. Before his tenure as U.S. captain is up, chances are he’ll break more cup china. It’s what makes him a captain worth watching.
Of all the reasons the PGA of America had for tabbing Azinger the U.S. skipper, perhaps it is the way he doggedly pursues victory regardless of the status quo that made him the most attractive candidate.
Last week at the PODS Championship, Azinger offered his idea that if a Nationwide Tour player were to win three events on the secondary circuit and receive a “battlefield promotion” to the PGA Tour prior to the matches he would consider that player for one of his four captain’s picks.
Some bristled at the notion. Others dismissed it altogether. But on Tuesday at Bay Hill, Azinger passionately backed up his claim that he wants to take the hottest Americans to Valhalla, regardless of pedigree or position.
“If he wins three in a row or three out of four or whatever. He wins that last one the week I’m picking I think he’s as confident as anyone else,” Azinger said. “I had some players say to me, ‘You can’t pick a guy like that. He’d be too nervous.’ I’m just saying I’m not afraid to do anything I have to do to get it right.”
About that time, an apropos prop wandered by Azinger on his way to the Bay Hill parking lot.
“Look at that guy,” says Azinger, shoving a finger in Zach Johnson’s direction.
Before Johnson was an up-and-coming American cup player who has forged a 3-4-1 record in two international soirees (2006 Ryder Cup and 2007 Presidents Cup), he was a two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour in 2003. A few months later Johnson won his first Tour title and, well, the green jacket covers the rest of the resume.
Azinger knows from four Ryder Cup encounters that pre-match nerves are as much a part of the process as bad shirts and uncomfortable formal dinners. Once the bell rings, however, only confidence can carry a player.
“We’ve got all that hype before the matches, but once they start it’s just me against you,” he said. “I’m going to tell that rookie, ‘Watch, you’re going to be nervous as all get-out before these matches start. But when you get to that first tee and you look at that guy and you realize he’s as nervous as you are, I don’t care how much experience you’ve got. It’s just him against you.’”
On Wednesday at Bay Hill, Azinger ran across Nationwide Tour president Bill Calfee and took a moment to reiterate his stance on the possibility of a “battlefield promotion” earning the ultimate bump.
“He went out of his way to tell me he was serious and I told him I didn’t think his statements were out of line at all,” Calfee said. “If a guy is playing well enough to give him an instant promotion I’m not saying he should be on the team, but if they are playing that well I don’t think it’s far fetched at all to think a Nationwide Tour player could compete with anyone in the world.”
Azinger, who never played the Nationwide Tour, likely did his homework before stepping to the Nationwide ledge. Seven of the eight players who have earned “battlefield promotions” have been Americans, and the earliest a player has ever made the jump is Aug. 5 (Heath Slocum in 2001). Which means, at least to Azinger, that if their is a three-time lottery winner it will occur virtually on the eve of the matches.
Almost everything Azinger has done since donning the captain’s hat has been structured to identify the best players at that moment. Whether that player arrived on the marquee via center stage or through his performances slightly off Broadway is not part of the formula.
“I just don’t think you need 10 years of experience,” Azinger said. “You need to be super confident.”
Confident like Jason Gore was in the summer of 2005, when he contended on Sunday at the U.S. Open, won three of the Nationwide Tour’s next five events and capped his season with his first Tour tilt at the 84 Lumber Classic.
Although some have balked at Azinger’s ideas, considering the U.S. team’s Ryder Cup slide, having lost five of the last six matches, his “whatever it takes” attitude is refreshing, if slightly unorthodox.
“Everybody freaked out. They were laughing at me. Laugh all you want, golf is golf I don’t care how old you are,” said Azinger, who also said he’d consider picking a Champions Tour player who was in form. “If it requires going below or above (the PGA Tour). I will go wherever I need to go.”
In a search for talent and answers, Azinger’s captaincy has been the Outback version of leadership. No rules, just right.
Posted: 3/12/2008
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