Former major champion Paul Azinger will be the US Ryder Cup captain for the next match against Europe in 2008, the PGA of America announced today.
The 46-year-old Azinger, who won the 1993 PGA Championship at Inverness, is a veteran of four Ryder Cups as a player and known for his competitive, passionate attitude.
Azinger played on triumphant US teams in 1991 and 1993 and was unbeaten in singles matches where his two victories came against Spanish heavyweights Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal.
'I think he's a great choice. He's feisty. He brings a little bit of an attitude to a team that I think needs it right now,' U.S. Ryder Cup veteran Jim Furyk told reporters at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on Sunday.
Azinger won three of his 12 PGA Tour titles in 1993, a career-best year that ended on a bitter note for him when he was diagnosed with lymphoma in his right shoulder.
His successful fightback culminated in his most recent Tour victory at the 2000 Hawaiian Open.
The announcement was made by the PGA of America during a conference call from Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, venue for the 2008 Ryder Cup.
The Europeans appointed six-times major winner Nick Faldo as their next captain in March last year.
Azinger will face a tough task as US captain after Tom Lehman's team crashed to a record-equalling defeat by 18-1/2 points to 9-1/2 at the K Club in Kildare in September.
The Americans, who have lost the last three matches, have not won since a come-from-behind victory at Brookline in 1999. Their last success before that was in 1993.
