It’s safe to say Paul Azinger knows a thing or two about golf, having left behind a playing career that included victory at the 1993 PGA Championship to find huge success in golf broadcasting, most recently as NBC’s lead analyst.
Azinger left that role in November, but not before his huge experience gave him the foresight to see that Scottie Scheffler was destined for great things as an unknown, even when colleagues doubted whether he had what it took to get to the top.
Back in 2018, Azinger had just taken on his role at the broadcaster at a time when Scheffler was embarking on his professional career. However, even at that point, he saw something in the future World No.1 when others questioned his swing, as he explained to Rocco Mediate on his Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio show The Rocco Hour.
Azinger said: “I remember [Dan] Hicks when I first signed on with NBC, Hicks asked me. We saw Scheffler from a distance, I didn’t know who a lot of those guys were at the time, and I rolled up there and he said: ‘Watch this guy swing. People are questioning whether it can be good or, you know, with his footwork,’ and I didn’t see anything wrong with it, I didn’t even really notice it.”
“Now he’s up against all the guys his own age he pounded for years, and he’s doing it again.”Paul Azinger isn’t surprised by Scottie Scheffler’s success. The ’93 PGA Champion talks about it with Rocco Mediate on the Rocco Hour.@RoccoMediate pic.twitter.com/1ENm1JGMS5April 23, 2024
Rather than concerns over Scheffler’s swing, Azinger instead concentrated on the results. He continued: “I saw the ball leave, and it looked pretty good, and then I went and looked at his record, and I saw where he dominates at every level, and I told Dan: ‘Oh, I think he’ll be great.’
“He goes: ‘Why do you say that?’ I said: “Because he’s dominated every level, Dan, and he’s going to be playing against guys his own age.
“You first come out you’re playing against guys that are older than you, they’re more experienced, but now he’s up against all the guys his own age that he pounded for years, and he’s doing it again.”
Scottie Scheffler has dominated in 2024 so far
(Image credit: Getty Images)
That’s an understatement. After a couple of wins on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019,
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