Azinger has been a different captain

Golf Betting Lines

08/09/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Azinger was always going to be a different Ryder Cup captain than most.

In his Ryder Cup career, which only spanned four Ryder Cups, Azinger got into legendary confrontations with the famed "Spanish Armada" of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, and refused to back down to the man leading the other side against him in a month, Nick Faldo.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Azinger is imposing his will as the leader of the American Ryder Cup team.

When he took the job, Azinger got the PGA of America to totally revamp the selection process for the U.S. team. The Europeans always have a one-year qualifying window, thus, got the hottest players.

The U.S. always had a two-year period, with more emphasis on the second year and majors. Azinger told them to cram that system. He said to make it money- based and only count the majors from the prior season. The year of the Ryder Cup is when it should count, therefore you get the best players.

Tom Lehman, who led his American compatriots to slaughter at The K Club two years ago, tweaked the system. Azinger blew it up.

PGA of America agreed to Azinger's demands.

Azinger wanted four picks, not the traditional two. He also didn't want to have to use them the Monday after the PGA Championship. It didn't make sense to him to pick guys almost a month before the competition

So the PGA of America agreed. Now Azinger won't make his four picks until September 2nd, almost three weeks after the eight automatic players make the team. The U.S. players now have what has become essentially a three-week try out.

Perhaps more important than the three-week try out is that Azinger will make these four picks 17 days before the first ball is struck at Valhalla. Talk about getting the hottest guys before the tournament.

If three Americans win in the three weeks leading up to the picks, they will probably make Azinger's team. He said as much on Wednesday.

"I'm going to look at who is hot. If somebody wins Greensboro (next week's Wyndham Championship), he's going to get a really good look from me," Azinger said.

Azinger has pulled no punches with his prospective team as well. All you've heard all year is that Kenny Perry wanted to make the Ryder Cup team in his home state of Kentucky. He eliminated majors off his schedule to try and earn more points to make this team.

Azinger was strategically quoted as saying he only wanted winners on his team. Perry hoisted three trophies this year.

If Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson are looking for a rah-rah guy, they are going to be in for a rude awakening. Azinger is a cancer survivor and a dogged competitor, but inspiring?

"If they need to be inspired by me, then they are hurting," Azinger said on Saturday after a third-round, six-over 76. "I mean, if I'm an inspiration, I'm happy to be that. I think that they are going to be really motivated and they are going to be inspired to play well, and it's not really the captain's responsibility to do that."

Azinger will get them to Valhalla, but he's practical enough to know that his guys have to sink the putts. He can't do that for them. All Azinger can do is put what he believes is the best team on the course.

Azinger will have done that come September 19th thanks to imposing his will for what's best for the United States Ryder Cup team.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.