"Azinger's mottos: Cash."

Craig Dolch reports that the U.S. Ryder Cup points standings will be compiled differently under Captain Azinger:

The problem with the current system is the only way a U.S. player can earn points is by finishing in the top 10 at a PGA Tour event. But with the Tour becoming more international - Azinger said 85 foreign players are exempt on the PGA Tour - fewer Americans are earning points by finishing in the top 10 (less than 60 percent of the available points were awarded for the 2006 team, and most of them went to Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk).

So look for the PGA to get away from top-10 finishes as its only measuring stick and use one of Azinger's mottos: Cash. Azinger said at the recent Chrysler Championship it was obvious to him the changes the PGA made to the system in 2004 didn't get the best team at the K Club.

"If you looked at the way it played out ... the last five guys on our team were not secure the last month and a half. If they would have had some high finishes, they would have secured their spot and nobody did," Azinger said. "The two guys that were picked (Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank) had opportunities to make the team. They didn't get hot and make the team.

"The reality is, Phil (Mickelson), his confidence might have waned a little bit after the U.S. Open. And David Toms and Chad Campbell won in January. It didn't put our hottest players on the team, not at all."

Comments

[Hawkeye]

One of the problems with US Ryder Cup selection is that while the Euro Tour kicks into gear in May and never really tails off after that, the US Tour reaches its peak around May-June and slows down considerably after the US Open. So, which are the tournaments American players are supposed to get "hot" in? B.C.? John Deere? Hartford? The stableford event in the Rockies? No, since so few of the "name" players play in these events, there is no real chance of the US team to catch momentum towrds the end of the qualifying process. This is a significant disadvantage for the US compared to the Euros, who haven't failed once to get the strongest, hottest players on board since switching to the half-world rankings, half-money list-qualifying at the turn of the century.

[Sean Murphy]

Fewer Americans earning points, nice stats, beautiful job Coach Finchem, you've single handedly given the FARM away!!! What a legacy.......

[John M]

Does this mean Zinger would have kept Phil off the team? Or limited his play more? Would he have kept Toms and Campbell off the team?

[Hawkeye]

Sean, what exactly is it you are saying? That the PGA Tour should turn isolationist and keep non-Americans out? That's the Dave Hill legacy, and I thought that belonged to another era...

[Steven T.]

What's wrong with World Rankings instead of cash? Lehman was ranked higher than 4 members of his team. He was playing much better than most of his team in the few months before the Cup. By the way, wasn't there are a proposal to award points to the top 10 Americans in each event if they finished in the top 20 or so?

[Hawkeye]

Steven T., Lehman kept such a list for himself, and Cink and Verplank were ranked 6th and 9th, respectively. That's the main reason they were picked.

[GeorgeM]

Hawkeye wrote:
"One of the problems with US Ryder Cup selection is that while the Euro Tour kicks into gear in May and never really tails off after that, the US Tour reaches its peak around May-June and slows down considerably after the US Open."

Reads like an endorsement of the new schedule with its FedEx Cup "playoffs".
Will the U.S. have stronger teams in the future?


Steven T. wrote:
"What's wrong with World Rankings instead of cash?"

I like the OWGR/Ryder Cup tie in. However, I favor points earned in the current year, not ranking.

[Sean Murphy]

"Sean, what exactly is it you are saying? That the PGA Tour should turn isolationist and keep non-Americans out? That's the Dave Hill legacy, and I thought that belonged to another era..."


DID I say any thing remotely like that???

Lets take a look...."Fewer Americans earning points, nice stats, beautiful job Coach Finchem, you've single handedly given the FARM away!!! What a legacy....... "

NO, didn't think I said anything like that at all....don't mind a good debate with you HAWK, but please refrain from putting words in my mouth....thank-you!

NOW to Clarify......

http://www.golftoday.co.uk/news/yeartodate/news06/pga_tour_8.html

{{{Cup teams no longer worth an exemption

"Trevor Immelman came within a 10-foot putt of winning the Wachovia Championship, a tournament he might not have been able to play except for a Presidents Cup perk that no longer exists.

The PGA Tour began offering a two-year exemption in 2004 to anyone on the previous Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup teams, provided they had some degree of tour membership."}}}

OOooooppppppsssssssssss.........Paul didn't even keep his card, looks like he wouldn't have even picked himself by his own standards....maybe he should have just step down as a player back in 2004....allow someone more qualified and in better playing form to fill out the TEAM!!!

{{{More times than not, anyone good enough to make either team had no trouble keeping his card, although there were exceptions. Paul Azinger was picked in 2001 to play in a Ryder Cup that was rescheduled to 2002, and he was able to play in 2004 on that exemption after finishing 169th on the money list."

But what really infuriated players was the case of Immelman.

He tied for 17th in the PGA Championship to earn just enough money for special temporary membership. Later that day, Gary Player made him as a captain's pick for the International team, even though Immelman was 22nd in the standings.

It smacked of preferential treatment, not only because Player and Immelman are South Africans, but because Immelman's father is commissioner of the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. And just like that, he was exempt for two years on the PGA Tour.

"I think it's more important to win a golf tournament for a two-year exemption than it is to make one of those teams to get the exemption, or even theoretically be a captain's pick," Jim Furyk said after his playoff victory at Quail Hollow.

Furyk wasn't alone in his complaints.

The criticism was so strong that the tour's policy board rescinded the exemption in May last year. Because it was in the middle of Presidents Cup qualifying, the perk wasn't taken off the books until this year. That means the exemption is effective this year for Ryder Cup players, and through 2007 for Presidents Cup players.}}}

COACH FINCHEM giving away the FARM.....I'm not against International Players earning a PGA TOUR Card Hawk, I'm against COACH FINCHEM creating another ANTI-TRUST Violation against this membership, TIMMY doesn't own PGA TOUR Inc. and international players have "NEVER" been barred from earning status on the PGA TOUR, just ask Elk, Norman, Player, Aoki, Seve, Faldo, Lyle, Woosnan, and a host of others how they got on the PGA TOUR!!! It has never been a closed shop, they simply had to do what Americans had to do to get their card, Monday-Q = Win or keep finishing high (Top 10 so you keep going), Sponsor Exemption = Win or keep playing your way in and keep making money to get to last years 150th on the money list which then automatically gets you "SPECIAL TEMPORARY MEMBORSHIP", Q-School, or Top 20 Nationwide Tour. Lots of ways for an International Player to play his way into status.

With COACH FINCHEM (at his own discrestion again, sad) giving away two year exemptions was his way of growing "HIS OWN WORLD TOUR", take that GREG NORMAN, and it was all done with an ANTI-TRUST VIOLATION, a DISCRIMINATION against the membership by recognizing others acheivements "OUTSIDE" the organization know as PGA TOUR INC. of which "NONE" of these International Players had any affiliation, TIM is good at DISCRIMINATION, I know because I have it all fully documented.

[Hawkeye]

Well, Sean, I had to put SOME words into your mouth since you weren't too specific about what you meant... I agree on the rule being somewhat lenient. However, I would like to make the case that, with the exception of Immelman, the Internationals keeping Americans out of the top 10 on a regular basis have earned their cards in "proper" ways. Els won the US Open in ´94... Goosen won the US Open in ´01... Singh finished 2nd as an invite at Bay Hill in ´93, then went on to win at Westchester that summer... Scott won the Deutche Bank as an invite in´03... Garcia finished 2nd at the PGA in ´99, which was enough for him to crack the top 125... Pettersson made it through Q-school in ´02. So, in other words, I don't think Finchem's "Cup membership status" should take the heat for US players earning fewer Ryder Cup points.

[Sean Murphy]

Everyone of those players that you mention have earned their own place.......find out which ones still have status from a COACH FINCHEM SCHOLARSHIP and get back to me.......thanks!

[Sean Murphy]

Oh and why your at that HAWK can you also track down something else for me??? ........can you find out if the European Tour exempts Americans to its final stage of its Q School, along with Japan, Australia-Asia, Sunshine and any other Tour that you might have a positive oppinion of.......I'd like to see the reciprocal agreement.


COACH FINCHEM, was he the one that aligned the http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/info/international


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_golf_tours

[hawkeye]

***find out which ones still have status from a COACH FINCHEM SCHOLARSHIP and get back to me...***

I can think of two: Darren Clarke (although one might consider giving him a medical-by-default exemption) and Henrik Stenson, although Lee Westwood might consider giving it another go. As for the latter two, I agree with you that it's a somewhat unfair arrangement.

***can you find out if the European Tour exempts Americans to its final stage of its Q School?***

I dare say that it's a totally hypothetical question - no American golfer even wants to play in Europe. Heck, even Kevin Stadler, who won a Euro event in February, opted for the Nationwide tour this year. Unable to answer, answer practically irrelevant anyway.

[Sean Murphy]

Hawkeye.......the Nationwide Tour plays for pennies every year while in Euro its around 185 Million, the total sum of added purses on Nationwide Tour are worth......$16 Million??? Go back and check the Euro Order of Merit and see who placed 75th in 1998. In 1999 Scott Dunlap wanted to keep his Euro membership but Finchem wouldn't allow Scott to play 11 tournaments in Euro which is the tournament minimum requirement. So when I'm getting all over TIM FINCHEM about discrimination (Anti-Trust Violations) against Americans here in America it is examples of Scott Dunlap having to need Uncle Tims permission to do what Ernie, Retief, Padraig, Donald, Sergio, Jose, and a host of others are free to do while not having to ask Uncle Tim for anything......that's called discrimination and it's an anti-trust violation, of which PGA TOUR INC has "NO EXEMPTION"!!! Things at PGA TOUR INC, Tom Pernice, need to get cleaned up quick, and I'm not talking about drug testing for performance enhancing athletes.

[Sean Murphy]

"I dare say that it's a totally hypothetical question - no American golfer even wants to play in Europe."


This is where O'Grady misses the boat in potential Americans playing in Europe.....he comes out each Summer May/June with the European Q-School dates, after seeing what those dates are TIM lines up the PGA TOUR Q-School dates right opposite Euro dates, why do you think tiny tim waits so long to post PGA Tour Q-School dates???

It's not that Americans don't want to play the Euro Tour, Bob May played it, it simply comes down to Americans wanting to play the PGA Tour first and foremost.


So then what about Japan and Australia-Asian or Sunshine Tours, do they exempt Americans to their final stage of Q-Schools????

If they don't then what exactly does tiny tim have arranged with them that allows the whole bunch to be called the "FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS", where everything revolves around WORLD RANKINGS to get your ass into a WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP????


Talking about...... {{"isolationist and keep non-Americans out? That's the Dave Hill legacy, and I thought that belonged to another era..."}}

That Horsesh*t is alive an well today in the global market place HAWK, and its discriminating against AMERICANS with FINCHEM leading the charge in his Gulfstream 5!!!

People like you HAWK need to wake up, honestly!

[Hawkeye]

You know, we're both on the recieving end of the WGC/"federation of PGA Tours"-thing. In my part of the world, which happens to be the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, we used to have two Euro events. Fifteen years ago, they morphed into one in order to be more competetive, and for a few years it was the richest tournement on the schedule sans the Open. To walk inside the ropes (I was a spotty spotter) and see Faldo, two weeks removed from his second Muirfield victory, hit tee shots on frozen ropes, and Ballesteros bend shots around trees was simply euphoric and awe-inspiring. Then the WGC's arrived, and they contributed to draining Europe from these, and future, talents. Every year our local tournament, that for years had at least one major champion in the field, has shrunk in importance, and this summer only two out of the world's top 40 entered - both Swedish players. In a few years, it's probably extinct, so we will have gone from two to nought in less than two decades.

Finchem's legacy is not discriminatory to Americans only. It's discriminatory to anyone who can't put up the almighty dollar, and that goes for most countries. If you say that Americans would be well off playing the Euro Tour (and apart from Dunlap and May, none have seemed too interested), spread the word, they are more than welcome as far as I'm concerned - how about giving it a shot yourself?

[Sean Murphy]

Hawk I won 6 times on the Nationwide Tour, and after going through three surgeries for a medical exemption that Finchem never granted (Dr. Finchem, Coach Finchem, Commissioner Finchem) while he wears all the hats down in PVB, I've only recieved 1 sponsor exemption, and that one came from Midland Texas only because a close friend of mine bought two pro-am teams!!! Where's the PROMOTION in that, = no love.

That's one of the reasons I'd like to see Sponsor Exemptions completely scratched. Their subjective (Mike Hulbert three years 20 plus events with no card) and not objective.

Aside from Finchem reducing golf around the globe and growing it into his back pocket I would choose to play the Euro Tour over the Nationwide Tour any day. His newest pyramid scheme called the Fed Ex Cup is going to be a joke (anti-trust violation) for Q-School category PGA Tour members who in turn will only be relegated back to the Nationwide Tour, funny!

The only thing O'Grady needs to do is come out with Euro dates after PGA Tour announces their Q-School dates, and it would help if he came up with some criteria that allowed Americans to be exempt into the Euro q-school final stage. I went over and qualified at Formby for the British Open at Lytham, then got beat in a play-off at Western Gales the next year 97, for Troon, I'd come back to a final stage and a chance to play for 185 Million vs. 16 Million in a heart beat. Money is important and Finchem's (Q-School category) fill up the field category isn't going to be getting many nods, and playing on mickey mouse tricked up Nationwide courses (see Omaha and Richmond unchanged since 1993) are a joke.

If I did come over to play Euro I'd probably have to find a flat in Dublin, I'm partial to Guinness and Harp along with Lahinch Golf Course, Ballybunion Golf Club, Old Head Golf Links, and Portmarnock GC as well. Mind you Hawkeye, there is no such thing as bad golf and a bad beer in Ireland, just listing a few favorites.

[Hawkeye]

We do have some fine Irish pubs here as well, if you should ever enter the Scandinavian Masters (better hurry then)... first round's on me, if that were to happen!