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Paul Azinger

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Paul Azinger
Personal information
Full name Paul William Azinger
Nickname Zinger
Born January 6, 1960 (1960-01-06) (age 52)
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Bradenton, Florida
Career
College Brevard Community College
Florida State University
Turned professional 1981
Current tour(s) Champions Tour
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 18
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 12
European Tour 2
Other 4
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament 5th: 1998
U.S. Open T3: 1993
The Open Championship T2: 1987
PGA Championship Won: 1993
Achievements and awards
PGA Player of the Year 1987
PGA Tour Comeback
Player of the Year		 2000

Paul William Azinger (born January 6, 1960) is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early years

Azinger was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts.[2] He started in golf at age five.[3] He moved to Sarasota, Florida where he attended and graduated from Sarasota High School. After graduating from Brevard Community College, he attended Florida State University and turned professional in 1981.[2]

[edit] Professional career

[edit] PGA Tour

Azinger finished one shot behind Nick Faldo at the 1987 Open Championship after making bogey at both the 71st and 72nd holes.[4] He won eleven tournaments on the PGA Tour in seven seasons from 1987 to 1993, climaxing in his one major title, the 1993 PGA Championship. He was subsequently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His treatment included six months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation in California.[5] He wrote a book called Zinger about his battle with the disease[3] and was the recipient of GWAA Ben Hogan Award in 1995, given to the individual who has continued to be active in golf despite physical handicap or serious illness. In 2000, he won his first tournament in seven seasons at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Azinger was the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2008 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.[6] He led the team to its first victory over the European squad since 1999. The team's victory was largely credited to his innovative strategy. This strategy is outlined in his book, Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make it Work for You, which was released in May 2010.[3][7] The book was co-authored with Ron Braund, a corporate team builder and psychologist, who consulted Azinger throughout the Ryder Cup.

[edit] Champions Tour

He made his Champions Tour debut at The ACE Group Classic in February 2010.[8]

[edit] Other interests

Azinger has done some work as a television commentator for ESPN. He served a lead analyst in 2010 for coverage of the British Open at St Andrews, the Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship — one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour.[3]

Azinger is an avid poker player and competed in the main event at both the 2006 World Series of Poker[9] and the 2008 World Series of Poker.[10][5]

Azinger threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Tampa Bay Rays' second ever playoff game on October 3, 2008.[11]

Azinger recently launched a new application for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch called Golfplan.[12][5]

[edit] Personal

Azinger is a Christian. He and his wife Toni met at FSU and have been married since 1982. They currently live in Bradenton, Florida and have two daughters, Sarah Jean Collins and Josie Lynn.[5]

Azinger gave the eulogy at the memorial service for friend Payne Stewart, who was killed in a plane crash in 1999.[3] His two managers and close friends, Robert Fraley and Van Arden, also died in the plane crash.

[edit] Professional wins (18)

[edit] PGA Tour wins (12)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 13, 1987 Phoenix Open -16 (67-69-65-67=268) 2 strokes United States Hal Sutton
2 May 3, 1987 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational -17 (68-72-67-64=271) 1 stroke United States Hal Sutton
3 Jun 28, 1987 Canon Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open -15 (69-65-63-72=269) 6 strokes United States Dan Forsman, United States Wayne Levi
4 Mar 20, 1988 Hertz Bay Hill Classic -13 (66-66-73-66=271) 5 strokes United States Tom Kite
5 Jul 9, 1989 Canon Greater Hartford Open -17 (65-70-67-65=267) 1 stroke United States Wayne Levi
6 Jan 7, 1990 MONY Tournament of Champions -18 (72-67-67-69=275) 1 stroke Australia Ian Baker-Finch
7 Feb 3, 1991 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -14 (67-67-73-67=274) 4 strokes United States Brian Claar, United States Corey Pavin
8 Nov 1, 1992 The Tour Championship -8 (70-66-69-71=276) 3 strokes United States Lee Janzen, United States Corey Pavin
9 Jun 6, 1993 Memorial Tournament -14 (68-69-68-69=274) 1 stroke United States Corey Pavin
10 Jul 25, 1993 New England Classic -16 (67-69-64-68=268) 4 strokes United States Bruce Fleisher
11 Aug 15, 1993 PGA Championship -12 (69-66-69-68=272) Playoff Australia Greg Norman
12 Jan 16, 2000 Sony Open in Hawaii -19 (67-70-73-68=278) 7 strokes Australia Stuart Appleby

[edit] European Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s)-up
1 Sep 23, 1990 BMW International Open -11 (63-73-73-68=277) Playoff Northern Ireland David Feherty
2 Sep 8, 1992 BMW International Open -22 (66-67-66-67=266) Playoff United States Glen Day, Sweden Anders Forsbrand
England Mark James, Germany Bernhard Langer

[edit] Other wins (4)

[edit] Major championships

[edit] Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner-up
1993 PGA Championship 1 shot deficit -12 (69-66-69-68=272) Playoff Australia Greg Norman

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP T17 CUT T14
U.S. Open CUT DNP CUT 34 CUT T6 T9
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP T2 T47 T8
PGA Championship DNP DNP CUT CUT CUT 2 CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters CUT 52 T31 CUT DNP T17 T18 T28 5 CUT
U.S. Open T24 CUT T33 T3 DNP CUT T67 T28 T14 T12
The Open Championship T48 DNP T59 T59 DNP CUT CUT CUT CUT DNP
PGA Championship T31 DNP T33 1 CUT T31 T31 T29 T13 T41
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters T28 T15 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open T12 T5 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T7 DNP DNP WD DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T24 T22 CUT CUT T55 CUT CUT DNP T63 CUT

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

[edit] U.S. national team appearances

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  2. ^ a b "Profile from PGA Tour's official site". http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/10/42. Retrieved August 26, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b c d e "Biographical information from PGA Tour's official site". http://www.pgatour.com/players/r/?/00/10/42/media. Retrieved August 26, 2011. 
  4. ^ Azinger loses big lead and British Open title
  5. ^ a b c d "Bio from Azinger's official site". http://www.paulazinger.com/bio/. Retrieved August 26, 2011. 
  6. ^ Azinger made US Ryder Cup captain
  7. ^ Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy
  8. ^ Kupelian, Vartan (February 3, 2010). "Insider: Tour in 'good shape' with new faces, places". PGA Tour. http://www.pgatour.com/2010/s/02/03/ct.insider/index.html. Retrieved February 16, 2010. 
  9. ^ What the ...? Hellmuth knocked out of WSOP
  10. ^ A Different Sort of Green, pokernews.com
  11. ^ Azinger to throw out first pitch at Rays game Friday
  12. ^ Golfplan with Paul Azinger

[edit] External links

Match play era
1916 Jim Barnes • 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I • 1919 Jim Barnes • 1920 Jock Hutchison • 1921 Walter Hagen • 1922 Gene Sarazen • 1923 Gene Sarazen • 1924 Walter Hagen • 1925 Walter Hagen • 1926 Walter Hagen • 1927 Walter Hagen • 1928 Leo Diegel • 1929 Leo Diegel • 1930 Tommy Armour • 1931 Tom Creavy • 1932 Olin Dutra • 1933 Gene Sarazen • 1934 Paul Runyan • 1935 Johnny Revolta • 1936 Denny Shute • 1937 Denny Shute • 1938 Paul Runyan • 1939 Henry Picard • 1940 Byron Nelson • 1941 Vic Ghezzi • 1942 Sam Snead • 1943 Cancelled due to World War II • 1944 Bob Hamilton • 1945 Byron Nelson • 1946 Ben Hogan • 1947 Jim Ferrier • 1948 Ben Hogan • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Chandler Harper • 1951 Sam Snead • 1952 Jim Turnesa • 1953 Walter Burkemo • 1954 Chick Harbert • 1955 Doug Ford • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. • 1957 Lionel Hebert

Stroke play era
1958 Dow Finsterwald • 1959 Bob Rosburg • 1960 Jay Hebert • 1961 Jerry Barber† • 1962 Gary Player • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964‡ Bobby Nichols • 1965 Dave Marr • 1966 Al Geiberger • 1967 Don January† • 1968 Julius Boros • 1969‡ Raymond Floyd • 1970 Dave Stockton • 1971 Jack Nicklaus • 1972 Gary Player • 1973 Jack Nicklaus • 1974 Lee Trevino • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Dave Stockton • 1977 Lanny Wadkins† • 1978 John Mahaffey† • 1979 David Graham† • 1980 Jack Nicklaus • 1981 Larry Nelson • 1982‡ Raymond Floyd • 1983‡ Hal Sutton • 1984 Lee Trevino • 1985 Hubert Green • 1986 Bob Tway • 1987 Larry Nelson† • 1988 Jeff Sluman • 1989 Payne Stewart • 1990 Wayne Grady • 1991 John Daly • 1992 Nick Price • 1993 Paul Azinger† • 1994 Nick Price • 1995 Steve Elkington† • 1996 Mark Brooks† • 1997 Davis Love III • 1998 Vijay Singh • 1999 Tiger Woods • 2000‡ Tiger Woods† • 2001 David Toms • 2002 Rich Beem • 2003 Shaun Micheel • 2004 Vijay Singh† • 2005 Phil Mickelson • 2006 Tiger Woods • 2007 Tiger Woods • 2008 Pádraig Harrington • 2009 Y. E. Yang • 2010 Martin Kaymer† • 2011 Keegan Bradley†
† indicates the event was won in a playoff ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

PGA Players of the Year
1948 Ben Hogan‡ · 1949 Sam Snead‡ · 1950 Ben Hogan† · 1951 Ben Hogan‡ · 1952 Julius Boros · 1953 Ben Hogan#∞ · 1954 Ed Furgol† · 1955 Doug Ford† · 1956 Jack Burke, Jr.‡ · 1957 Dick Mayer† · 1958 Dow Finsterwald† · 1959 Art Wall, Jr.† · 1960 Arnold Palmer‡ · 1961 Jerry Barber† · 1962 Arnold Palmer‡ · 1963 Julius Boros† · 1964 Ken Venturi† · 1965 Dave Marr †· 1966 Billy Casper† · 1967 Jack Nicklaus† · 1968 No award · 1969 Orville Moody† · 1970 Billy Casper† · 1971 Lee Trevino ‡· 1972 Jack Nicklaus‡∞∞ · 1973 Jack Nicklaus† · 1974 Johnny Miller† · 1975 Jack Nicklaus‡ · 1976 Jack Nicklaus · 1977 Tom Watson‡ · 1978 Tom Watson · 1979 Tom Watson · 1980 Tom Watson† · 1981 Bill Rogers† · 1982 Tom Watson‡ · 1983 Hal Sutton† · 1984 Tom Watson · 1985 Lanny Wadkins · 1986 Bob Tway† · 1987 Paul Azinger · 1988 Curtis Strange† · 1989 Tom Kite · 1990 Nick Faldo‡ · 1991 Corey Pavin · 1992 Fred Couples† · 1993 Nick Price · 1994 Nick Price‡ · 1995 Greg Norman · 1996 Tom Lehman† · 1997 Tiger Woods† · 1998 Mark O'Meara‡ · 1999 Tiger Woods† · 2000 Tiger Woods#∞ · 2001 Tiger Woods† · 2002 Tiger Woods‡ · 2003 Tiger Woods · 2004 Vijay Singh† · 2005 Tiger Woods‡∞∞ · 2006 Tiger Woods‡ · 2007 Tiger Woods† · 2008 Pádraig Harrington‡ · 2009 Tiger Woods · 2010 Jim Furyk · 2011 Luke Donald

PGA Tour Players of the Year
1990 Wayne Levi · 1991 Fred Couples · 1992 Fred Couples† · 1993 Nick Price · 1994 Nick Price‡ · 1995 Greg Norman · 1996 Tom Lehman† · 1997 Tiger Woods† · 1998 Mark O'Meara‡ · 1999 Tiger Woods† · 2000 Tiger Woods#∞ · 2001 Tiger Woods† · 2002 Tiger Woods‡ · 2003 Tiger Woods · 2004 Vijay Singh† · 2005 Tiger Woods‡∞∞ · 2006 Tiger Woods‡ · 2007 Tiger Woods† · 2008 Pádraig Harrington‡ · 2009 Tiger Woods · 2010 Jim Furyk · 2011 Luke Donald
† One major ‡ Two majors # Three majors ∞ One career grand slam ∞∞ Two career grand slams
All of these are in the year of the award
United States Presidents Cup team – 2000

Paul Azinger • Notah Begay III • Stewart Cink • David Duval • Jim Furyk • Tom Lehman • Davis Love III • Phil Mickelson • Loren Roberts • Hal Sutton • Kirk Triplett • Tiger Woods

Ken Venturi (non-playing captain)
United States
Won: 21.5 – 10.5
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Azinger&oldid=470531144"
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