Posted on Tue, Jan. 29, 2008

Azinger willing to copy success

U.S. RYDER CUP CAPTAIN SAYS HE'LL SEEK INPUT FROM NICKLAUS AND PRESIDENTS CUP PLAYERS

By Doug Ferguson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTREAL --

One cup runneth over. The other cup is empty.

The Americans raised the Presidents Cup after a runaway victory at Royal Montreal, and they raised hopes again that they are capable of being a world power in team golf, maybe even good enough to win that other cup.

"I was real happy to see the state of American golf is not what I've been reading," Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger said yesterday morning. "They were playing against a juggernaut. It just shows you that when you get the right guys assembled and they're clicking, they are still dominant."

The simple conclusion would be the Americans can repeat all this next year at Valhalla.

But it's not that simple.

While the credentials for the International team were stout, the Americans were in better form. Tiger Woods had won four of his past five tournaments, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker each had won during the PGA Tour Playoffs and Zach Johnson was coming off a 60 in the Players Championship. No one on the International team had won in the previous three months.

"The problem is the makeup of the next team might not be the same," Azinger said. "To suggest that the same team will walk into the next Ryder Cup with the same form is a big assumption. A year is a lifetime in this game."

Azinger's greatest hope is he gets the hottest players.

The Presidents Cup has a far better qualifying system than the Ryder Cup, essentially taking players off the PGA Tour money list over two years, with the second year counting double. Azinger took a good step last year by persuading the PGA of America to revamp its system. Instead of points assigned to top 10s, points now are assigned to money, with a priority on majors and 2008 tournaments.

"If it happens to be the right change -- and I don't know -- and if we get the hottest players, there's hope," he said.

Azinger doesn't want to read too much into the 191/2-141/2 score at Royal Montreal, or how the Americans won 101/2 points from 11 alternate-shot matches.

What the Presidents Cup inspired Azinger to do was call Nicklaus along with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, David Toms and Stewart Cink. Those five have played on each of the past two Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams.

"I want input from the guys who played on both teams," he said. "I'd rather know from them, rather than blurt out what I like. And I'd like to spend some time on the phone with Nicklaus and get a feel for what he was thinking and doing. And if there's a glaring difference, then I'd like to try to duplicate what he did."

Nicklaus wants it to be fun, but isn't it always fun when you're winning?

What would really help Azinger is getting Woods and Mickelson to play as well in the Ryder Cup as they do in the Presidents Cup. They combined to go 5-3-2 at the Presidents Cup. Woods and Mickelson have never combined for a winning record in any Ryder Cup.

What does it all mean?

It was a great week for Captain Jack and the Americans. It will be forgotten by the time they get to Valhalla.

Remember, the Americans felt like world-beaters when they won the Presidents Cup in 2005.

A year later, Europe smoked them again.2008 Ryder Cup

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