Paul Azinger is one of the most familiar faces in the game, and not just because he had a hugely successful playing career.
The Major champion has also had a distinguished broadcasting career, and that’s set to continue with a move to the Golf Channel as its lead analyst for the PGA Tour Champions.
Here are 20 things you may not know about the American.
1. Paul Azinger was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts on 6 January 1960 and began playing golf aged five.
2. After attending Florida State University, he turned professional in 1981.
3. During the early years of his professional career, Azinger struggled to make ends meet, so he bought a used motor home to travel between tournaments.
4. Azinger made 587 starts on the PGA Tour throughout his career, collecting 12 wins.
5. Azinger’s one Major victory came in the 1993 PGA Championship when he beat Greg Norman in a playoff.
Azinger won the 1993 PGA Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)
6. He famously had a spat with Seve Ballesteros at the 1989 Ryder Cup at The Belfry. The Spaniard requested his damaged ball be replaced but Azinger successfully objected. Later, Ballesteros disputed a drop his opponent took out of the water.
Two years later at the match there was another ball dispute, leading to Ballesteros to accuse Azinger of being a liar, with Azinger responding that Ballesteros was “the king of gamesmanship.”
7. In 1993, Azinger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which he beat after undergoing six months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation treatment.
8. Azinger was one of the early adopters of the long putter.
9. He began working in broadcasting in 1995, first as an on-course reporter for NBC. From 2005 to 2014 he was lead analyst for ESPN and ABC Sports’ golf coverage, before taking on the same role at Fox Sports then NBC.
10. He made a shock departure from NBC in November 2023 when the broadcaster opted not to renew his contract, but will return to broadcasting as lead analyst of the Golf Channel’s PGA Tour Champions coverage in 2025.
11. Azinger was US captain in the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla, where he led the team to victory.
Paul Azinger led the US team to victory at the 2008 Ryder Cup
(Image credit: Getty Images)
12. At the match, he introduced a strategy known as the “pod system,” which was inspired by…
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