Golf365 and Sporting Life - Ryder Cup

Given the United States team's slump during recent years, Paul Azinger heads to Valhalla looking to become the first American captain to savour Ryder Cup success since Ben Crenshaw back in 1999. Indeed, Azinger has the added pressure of knowing that defeat against Nick Faldo's side will see Europe taking the trophy for the fourth successive time - a record. Now 48, Azinger joined the PGA Tour in 1981. However, he had to wait some six seasons before making a real breakthrough when three Tour wins in 1987 complemented a challenge for that year's Open Championship. It was at Muirfield that the two captains first squared up, with Faldo's consistency - he parred every hole during his final round - seeing him win his first major after Azinger, on the verge of victory, instead picked up bogeys at the 17th and 18th. Nevertheless, Azinger was now a leading light on the Tour and, while it's arguable that he never fully built upon the promise shown in 1987, he did nevertheless win a total of 11 titles between that year and 1993. The latter year also brought his only major success with victory in the USPGA Championship at the Inverness Club. However, subsequently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Azinger was then forced to commit to an altogether more personal battle. But Azinger overcame his illness and returned to the Tour, with another victory coming in 2000 at the Sony Open. With four Ryder Cup appearances as a player seeing him a member of teams which scored two victories (1991 and 1993), one tie (1989) and just one defeat (2002), he will be looking for more success at the helm in Kentucky.