In light of the more friendly atmosphere in recent years around the Ryder Cup, what was Azinger thinking here?

Also his comments on Faldo not getting on with Monty are interesting too. I wouldn't hesitate to give Monty a wild card, assuming Garcia, Harrington & Westwood all qualify by rights, then he's the obvious pick for me. If he's left tout it would be a strange decision IMO.


http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3332226

The whole thing is baffling. Prior to his round yesterday they were interviewing him and beating around the bush and he finally cut to the chase with "well aren't you going to ask me about the thing with Nick?"

No clue why he would say that, I mean it's just so weird given their TV relationship. I assume they'll both be back in the booth together when ABC covers the British Open in July.

instant ratings, imo

They publish "prick"?

Azinger is supposed to be a huge prick himself. I've heard many people call Azinger the biggest a-hole on tour.

I was walking around during the WSOP main event during a break and happen to run into him. I said, "Good luck Mr. Azinger." He looked at me and kept walking without a nod or a smile.

I've heard about Faldo being unpopular countless of times through the years but never exactly why that's the case?

Personally I always liked him. Can someone fill me in what the background is?

I would say of the two, Zinger would be the one I'd expect to have made many more enemies.


He first got a bit of a rep, when he got his ball kicked onto the green by a spectator during the World Matchplay at Wentworth - after it had run through the green. Many thought he should have conceded the hole to Sandy Lyle out of good sportsmanship, but he played the ball as it lay.

He then reported (in a different event) Sandy Lyle (poor Sandy) for altering his club during a round. Sandy had apparently put something on the top edge of one of his clubs as the sun was reflecting directly into his eyes from it, Sandy being the absent minded plonker that he is didn't even think about it, but Faldo - while being correct - came out as the villain, seeing as Lyle was/is one of the ost popular of British golfers.

Also, Faldo was incredibly dull, and apparently didn't mix with the other players barely at all. The fact he's meant to be a pretty shy person, doesn't let him off the hook in many peoples eyes.

Other than that, he's never done much wrong, but the infamous good luck letter to the Ryder cup team that Mark James ripped up, shows that some of his fellow pros are none too fond of him.

Faldo always had very personal, very focused, very technical approach to his game, kept his fellow professionals at arm's length, and kept himself cloistered with Fanny and Leadbetter ( who rose to prominence on Faldo's back).

He did not speak to his fellow competitors during a round, relied on Fanny to keep him aware of what was going on around him, and he had a tedious pre-shot routine.

On practice round sign-up sheets, he would write his name next to a preferred tee time, and cross off the spaces for playing partners; he practiced alone.

In many respects, he was ahead of his time, and that reflected in his results. Fanny was ahead of her time, as well, in her thorough pre-tournament preparation.

I caddied for my dad in the Las Vegas Pro-Am tourney a few years back, and he drew Zinger for his first round at Southern Highlands. It was a week or two after the 2002 Ryder Cup at the Belfry that the US lost. Zinger started out pretty well, 2 under after 4 holes, and was very accomodating discussing the matches even though they had just lost.

His game turned south after that start, and he started bitching about the course and how long the round was taking (5+ hours), and how he didnt really want to play that week. He said that he would rather be playing foosball, and if there was any money in it, he'd much rather be a pro foosball player.

He hit into the group in front of us on one of the last holes, and one of the players in that group accidentally (I think since it was fairly deep in the rough) drove over his ball with their cart, and he nearly lost it. I'm surprised he didnt walk in from there he was so pissed. He took about 5 seconds to hit each shot from there on out and didnt hardly say a word the last 3 holes.

All in all, it was cool to be in the same group with him since he was pretty funny, but I could totally see people thinking he is an *******, especially hitting into the guys in front of us.

Didn't Azinger and Steven Ames get into it (a real fight not just an argument) in the locker room a few years ago? Anybody got the story on that?

As far as there announcing goes I think Azinger is better than Faldo. Faldos humor always seems so planned out and corny. Azinger reacts to things and is genuinely funny.

"He talked me into giving him a five-footer on the 16th," Azinger said. "He said: 'It's over. You guys have won.' So I waived the putt, Then Davis Love [III] ran over and told me the match was still tied. I can't tell you how irritating that was."

Pretty ****ty on Faldo's part, if true.