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Paul Azinger
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== Professional career == Azinger turned professional in 1981.<ref name="PGApro">{{cite web |title=PGA Tour Profile β Paul Azinger |url=http://www.pgatour.com/players/player.01042.html |publisher=PGA Tour |access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref> During his early years, Azinger collected meager earnings. He and his wife, Toni, bought a used motor home, a 1983 Vogue, and drove from tournament to tournament. Azinger had a breakout year in 1987, when he won three times on the PGA Tour and had a second-place finish in the [[1987 Open Championship|Open Championship]].<ref name=":0" /> Azinger won eleven tournaments on the PGA Tour in seven seasons from 1987 to 1993, climaxing in his one [[Men's major golf championships|major]] title, the [[1993 PGA Championship]] at Inverness, which he won in a sudden-death playoff against [[Greg Norman]]. Azinger finished one shot behind [[Nick Faldo]] at the [[1987 Open Championship]] at Muirfield after making bogey at both the 71st and 72nd holes. Azinger was bidding to become only the fourth golfer since 1945 to win the Open Championship at the first attempt<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ew5HAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DnsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5063,3908634&dq=nick+faldo+paul+azinger+british+open&hl=en |title=Azinger Loses Big Lead And British Open Title |newspaper=Times-Union |location=[[Warsaw, Indiana]] |first=Larry |last=Siddons |page=10 |date=July 20, 1987 |access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> and said that he was "heartbroken" to leave Muirfield without the [[Claret Jug]] trophy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tuhFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aR8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3359,1600926&dq=muirfield+brings+back+memories&hl=en |title=Muirfield bring back memories |newspaper=Hudson Valley News |location=[[Newburgh, New York]] |date=July 16, 1992 |first=Bob |last=Green |agency=Associated Press |page=B2 |access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> At the [[1991 Ryder Cup]], Azinger was involved in a controversial episode with [[Seve Ballesteros]], with whom he had a [[1991 Ryder Cup#Ballesteros/Azinger feud|fierce rivalry]]. Azinger and American teammate [[Chip Beck]] were using balls of different compressions off the tee on multiple holes, in violation of an agreement between the Cup captains. Azinger initially denied that the Americans had engaged in this practice, but admitted to it once he realized that there would be no penalty assessed.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/10/25/ballesteros-accuses-azinger-of-lying/e916a99c-7ee9-4ee9-9ab8-a201d20f0c6c/ |title=Ballesteros accuses Azinger of lying |date=October 25, 1991 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=July 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.golfdigest.com/story/1991-ryder-cup-at-kiawah |title=The Rowdy Ryder Cup at Kiawah |last1=Huggan |first1=John |last2=Yocom |first2=Guy |date=July 31, 2012 |magazine=Golf Digest |access-date=July 9, 2018}}</ref> In December 1993, Azinger was diagnosed with [[non-Hodgkin lymphoma]] in his right shoulder.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/09/sports/golf-lymphoma-found-in-azinger-s-shoulder.html |title=Lymphoma Found in Azinger's Shoulder |first=Larry |last=Dorman |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 9, 1993 |access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> His treatment included six months of [[chemotherapy]] and five weeks of radiation in [[California]].<ref name=bio>{{cite web |title=Bio from Azinger's official site|url=http://www.paulazinger.com/bio/|access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref> He wrote a book called ''Zinger'' about his battle with the disease<ref name=PGAbio/> and was the recipient of the GWAA Ben Hogan Award in 1995, given to the individual who has continued to be active in golf despite physical handicap or serious illness. In 2000, he won his first tournament in seven seasons at the [[Sony Open in Hawaii]]. Azinger was the U.S. [[Ryder Cup]] captain for the [[2008 Ryder Cup|2008]] at [[Valhalla Golf Club]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/6111626.stm |title=Azinger made US Ryder Cup captain |work=BBC Sport |date=November 6, 2006 |access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> He led the team to its first victory over the European squad since 1999. The team's victory was largely credited to his innovative strategy. This strategy is outlined in his book, ''Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make it Work for You'', which was released in May 2010.<ref name=PGAbio/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paulazinger.com/projects/cracking-the-code/ |title=Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy |access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> The book was co-authored with Ron Braund, a corporate team builder and psychologist, who consulted Azinger throughout the Ryder Cup. Azinger made his [[Champions Tour]] debut at [[The ACE Group Classic]] in February 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/champions/news/2010/02/03/ctinsider.html |title=Insider: Tour in 'good shape' with new faces, places |first=Vartan |last=Kupelian |publisher=PGA Tour |date=February 3, 2010 |access-date=November 22, 2013}}</ref> He played four events that year and none since. === Broadcasting career === Azinger first worked in television in 1995 while recovering from chemotherapy. Azinger was recruited by lead NBC analyst [[Johnny Miller]] to join the broadcast team as an on-course reporter, a stint which included reporting on the singles match at the [[1995 Ryder Cup]] between [[Tom Lehman]] and Azinger's former Ryder Cup rival [[Seve Ballesteros]], who was playing in his final Ryder Cup. After returning to the PGA Tour for several more successful playing years, Azinger returned to broadcasting on a full-time basis. From 2005 to 2015, Azinger worked as lead analyst for [[Golf on ESPN|ESPN]] and [[PGA Tour on ABC|ABC Sports']] golf coverage. He initially shared analyst duties with his former Ryder Cup and Open Championship rival [[Nick Faldo]]. Azinger and Faldo, along with host [[Mike Tirico]], formed a broadcast team that was met with positive critical acclaim. Faldo left for rival [[PGA Tour on CBS|CBS]] after the 2006 season; since then, Azinger worked alone with Tirico. However, when Faldo and Azinger were opposing captains at the [[2008 Ryder Cup]], Azinger's colleague [[Andy North]] filled in for him. Faldo and Azinger have also reunited as analysts on two occasions. The first reunion was at the [[2007 Open Championship]] (for ABC) and the second was at the [[2009 Presidents Cup]] (for the Golf Channel). After ESPN/ABC lost its rights to both the U.S. Open and Open Championship to Fox and NBC, Azinger joined [[Fox Sports (United States)|Fox Sports]] as its head golf analyst in 2016, replacing [[Greg Norman]].<ref name=trib-azinger>{{cite news |title=Paul Azinger replaces Greg Norman as lead golf announcer for Fox Sports |date=January 27, 2016 |access-date=January 27, 2016 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/ct-paul-azinger-fox-golf-20160127-story.html}}</ref> In October 2018, [[NBC Sports]] and [[Golf Channel]] named Azinger their lead golf analyst, succeeding the retiring Johnny Miller β who had originally helped give Azinger his start in broadcasting during his recovery from cancer in 1995. After Miller ended his NBC career at the 2019 [[Phoenix Open]], Azinger became NBCβs lead analyst during the Southern Swing in March 2019. He remained with Fox for the U.S. Open, U.S Women's Open, and U.S. Amateur for the 2019 season alongside his NBC duties, until those championships returned to NBC, where Azinger had also ended up at, in 2020.<ref name=pga-azinger>{{cite news |title=Azinger named NBC Sports' new lead golf analyst |date=October 22, 2018 |access-date=January 27, 2019 |publisher=PGA Tour |url=https://www.pgatour.com/news/2018/10/22/paul-azinger-new-nbc-sports-lead-golf-analyst-2019.html}}</ref>
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