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Azinger smiled as photographers captured an increasingly rare moment: a United States Ryder Cup captain with the spoils of victory.
The Europeans have beaten the Americans five of the last six times they've crossed clubs, including embarrassing routs in 2004 and 2006.
The USA hasn't celebrated golf's ultimate team championship since its miracle comeback at Brookline, Mass., in 1999.
Azinger hopes to lead the USA to glory again when the Ryder Cup is played at Valhalla next September. But his American team will have to beat Faldo's Europeans, no easy task.
Azinger and Faldo played a leisurely round at Valhalla yesterday to get a look at the Jack Nicklaus course that has undergone significant changes since the PGA Championship was here in 1996 and 2000.
But truth be told, the Ryder Cup could be played at Lakeside Golf Course in Lexington and it would still be a riveting spectacle.
Faldo, who has played in 11 Ryder Cups, talked yesterday about the emotion the competition generates.
"I've seen men lying on the floor of the locker room either laughing or crying," he said.
"It's quite amazing what we will put ourselves through for one point . . . it's quite electric . . . quite amazing."
Azinger, a four-time Ryder Cup participant, said patriotism is a motivator, too.
"Once the flags go up, you feel it and the fans feel it," he said.
Old Glory hasn't translated into Ol' Victory for the Americans in recent years, though.
While armchair golfers seem to think that the Europeans make better teammates and show more spirit than their American rivals, Azinger said that is a "big mis-read."
Azinger thinks the fact that Europe has jumped to quick leads in the past couple Ryder Cups has sapped some of the USA's energy.
"It's difficult to show the kind of enthusiasm you might want to see if you're behind," he said. "Hopefully we can turn that around."
Azinger also hopes that a new selection process for the Ryder Cup will help make for a stronger American team.
Instead of golfers earning points over a two-year period, more emphasis will be put on how they play next season, especially in the majors.
"I hope that the selection process gets hotter Americans. That's what we're banking on," Azinger said.
While it's too early to tell who'll make the 12-man USA team, it's a given that Tiger Woods will be the high-profile leader.
Or will he?
"I wouldn't expect anymore from Tiger than he gives, because he always gives 100 percent," Azinger said.
"At this point it looks like in Tiger's career, Jim Furyk's career, Phil Mickelson's career, they're going to be kind of the senior citizens on this Ryder Cup team and I think they are all leaders."
Faldo, whose stoic demeanor as a player has given way to a talkative jokester as a television analyst, reverted to his old form yesterday.
He didn't answer questions about less-than-flattering comments he made about Ryder Cup veteran Colin Montgomerie's play in the World Match Play Championship in England two weeks ago.
But Faldo did engage in some lighthearted banter with Azinger, with whom he had a sometimes contentious rivalry in their younger days before they got to know each other as golf analysts at ABC.
Asked if their rivalry would be rekindled at Valhalla next September, Faldo said that he and Azinger "recognize the big picture of the Ryder Cup."
"There will be moments, I'm sure, where we will lock horns, and there will be moments where we have a damn good laugh.
"By the end of it, whatever happens, we'll share in the moment."
