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Bring Back Zinger

by G. Rennie

One of the benefits of major championship weekends is the added special TV programming offered by Golf Channel. They give blanket coverage from the course for hours on end both before and after play and they add interesting and sometimes insightful guest commentators to their capable crew.paul-azinger-ryder-cup-2008_t640

Yesterday we we’re privileged to hear Paul Azinger pop off about the state of Tiger’s game, the upcoming Ryder Cup challenges faced by the US team and some rehashing of his approach to a successful Ryder Cup captaincy in 2008.

Zinger is a rare breed for an analyst as he combines straight out you candor with deep felt passion. Along with that you get an adventurous mind that is willing and able to wander off the trodden path of conventional thought. The U.S. golfing public and the PGA of America should whisper a word of reverential thanks to Azinger at every mention of the Ryder Cup because he’s the only captain to secure a win for the U.S. of A. in a real long time. He used an entirely new concept in golf to assemble a team that would bond together on a level comparable to the Europeans. And this concept was drawn from a supremely American source- US Navy SEAL team training.

Why the PGA hasn’t seized on this team building format in subsequent competitions is a huge mystery to me. Why throw out a successful formula? Is it too radical for some other captain to adopt?

If that’s the case just bring back Zinger to the Ryder Cup Captaincy.

Zinger wasn’t stumping for a return bit but I will. He had a few words of advice for Tom Watson that centered on whipping that underdog status into a real motivating factor. Obvious but good advice.

Zinger and Brandel Chamblee had a fine time dissecting the corpse of Tiger Woods’s season and the former PGA champ waxed eloquent and impassioned when talking about Tiger. He said watching Tiger’s recent play was like “watching Van Gogh paint by numbers”. Lamenting the mechanical, technical approach Tiger has embraced was like seeing “an artist become an engineer”. Zinger continued with” Tiger won five times last year despite this flawed approach” because he’s just so great. A number of other commentators have expressed similar opinions but few, if any, have delivered the message so well.

Paul Azinger proved his worth anchoring pro golf telecasts for ABC when that network had a piece of the game. He was paired with his exact opposite, Nick Faldo, and the combination of extreme opposites was a treat for the golf viewer. Why CBS chose the former ice man now tuned cockney clown as their lead analyst instead of Zinger is as much a mystery as the stubborn slide to golf swing technician by Tiger is.

Bring back Paul Azinger to a regular spot in the eighteenth tower and then get him back in the Captain’s chair. Hazeltine 2016 is closer than we think.

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One Comment

  1. Tom Watson may be a legend(especially in his own mind). I have played the game of golf from my youth. I also have played all over the world, including Gleneagles. It was apparent that Tom was well separated from his team. They were not involved, in today’s world that is a must!

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