Azinger happy with how Ryder Cup team is forming

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Ehrmann/PGA of America

Paul Azinger said he's glad he didn't have to make his Ryder Cup captain's picks on Monday.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- There was a story inside a story during the final round of the 90th PGA Championship at Oakland Hills on Sunday.

While the primary focus was on winning the coveted Wanamaker Trophy, which Ireland's Padraig Harrington went on to do in brilliant fashion for his second major title in as many tries, several American players were vying for an automatic berth on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, which will take place at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., September 18-21.

In order to accomplish that, players needed to finish in the top eight in points, which closed on Sunday.

The eight automatic qualifiers for the U.S. Ryder Cup team

Player Points Phil Mickelson 5,342.500 Stewart Cink 4,952.665 Kenny Perry 4,480.700 Jim Furyk 4,423.892 Anthony Kim 4,035.296 Justin Leonard 3,379.274 Ben Curtis 3,120.061 Boo Weekley 2,785.095

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Ben Curtis, winner of the 2003 Open Championship, made the biggest move, pushing Steve Stricker out of the top-8 with a tie for second at the PGA Championship.

Curtis leapt from No. 20 to No. 7.

"I've had my eye on Ben Curtis for a long time and I really believe that Ben Curtis is going to add a lot to this team," United States captian Paul Azinger said in a press conference on Monday morning to introduce his eight automatic bids. "So I could not be more excited for him. I have not talked to him yet, and it's going to be kind of like a consolation prize a little bit for him. He played terrific this week. He didn't lose the PGA, Padraig Harrington went out and won it and Ben played terrific all the way to the end."

So far, Azinger likes how his team is taking shape on its quest to snap a U.S. slump that has seen Europe win five of the last six matches.

"We've got eight established players... I'm really excited about who we have on the team," he said.

The four players who will build out the 12-player squad are up to Azinger. He will announce his four captain's selections to complete the U.S. squad on Tuesday, Sept. 2, in a 10 a.m. press conference at the Radisson Martinique in New York.

"The next three weeks are going to be really important for the remainder of the PGA TOUR because as I look at it right now anybody can get on this team," Azinger said. "I have some really good friends that play this TOUR that are out there with chances to get on this team, and there's a bunch of guys who I don't know, at all, who have an opportunity to get on this team, and some of them are close."

Europe's 10 automatic bids will be finalized on August 31, which is the same day that captain Nick Faldo will make his two captain's selection.

While all eight automatics are thrilled to be a part of the U.S. team, it's hard to imagine there's any one player on the squad more excited than Perry.

Perry ripped through the PGA TOUR competition with three wins over the last five months to guarantee a spot on the U.S. team in his home state of Kentucky.

Perry is the only player on the U.S. side who failed to play more than one round in any of the four majors. He was ineligible for the Masters, decided not to try to qualify for the U.S. Open, skipped the Open Championship, and was forced to withdraw from the PGA Championship due to an eye injury after an opening-round 9-over.

"I'm really excited for Kenny Perry to be on the team, being from Kentucky and I think we all are pretty familiar with Kenny Perry," Azinger said. "He's established goals for himself, and you know, he unfortunately had to withdraw this week, I guess he had a scratched cornea, I don't know what that feels like; I don't know how hard that is to recover from. But I'm excited about Kenny Perry being on the team. I've known Kenny for a long time. We used to play against each other on the mini tours."

With the eight automatic bids, Azinger has an eclectic mix of Ryder Cup veterans and rookies.

Mickelson and Furyk bring in the experience with 11 Ryder Cup appearances between them. Cink has played in the last three, Perry was on the team in 2004 and Leonard has been on two squads, including the miracle 1999 team that was the last U.S. team to win.

Kim, Curtis and Weekley are all Ryder Cup rookies.

"Hopefully I can bring some of that into the locker room and the team room, and just have a positive influence on the event and especially on the guys on the team and on Captain Azinger," said Leonard, who along with Weekley attended the conference via telephone.

The one glaring name missing from the U.S. side for the first time since 1995 is Tiger Woods. Woods, of course, was forced to miss the remainder of the 2008 season following knee surgery after an incredible playoff-win over Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Even without Woods, the U.S. team will continue plugging along.

"We lost the best players in the game, Tiger Woods, and we are all going to have to step up," Azinger said. "We are going to take on an underdog role in this Ryder Cup for the first time in a long time, even on paper, when you look at the strength of the European squad. So we are going to have everything to gain here, and what we are going to try to do, what I would like to do is have everything come together and have each other's back. I plan on getting input from the two guys on the phone, as well as the other six guys that are not on the phone that qualified for this team, so that we can make four good picks."

After three consecutive losses to the Europeans -- including two in record fashion, 18 ½ - 9 ½ defeats at Oakland Hills in 2004 and the K Club in 2006 -- the PGA of America revised its points system.

The number of automatic berths was reduced from 10 players to eight, while Azinger was given four captain's selections instead of the usual two.

The new points system began with golf's four major championships in 2007 and resumed Jan. 1 through Aug. 11, 2008.

The points were based upon the following:

• Prize money earned in the 2007 major championships (Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship -- one point for every $1,000 earned).

• Prize money earned in "official events" in 2008 through Aug. 11 (one point for every $1,000 earned, excluding the major championships and events played opposite major championships and opposite World Golf Championships).

• Prize money earned in the 2008 major championships (Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, PGA Championship (two points for every $1,000 earned).

• Prize money earned in 2008 events played opposite the major championships and opposite World Golf Championships events between Jan. 1 and Aug. 11 (one-half point for every $1,000 earned).

• With the 2006 points system having been in effect prior to the 2008 points system being announced, it was determined that all U.S. players who finished in the top 10 in all official events from Aug. 27 through Nov. 5, 2006, would be awarded one-quarter point for every $1,000 earned.

Azinger is certainly hopeful that the new system will benefit the Americans, as it assures that only the hottest players made the squad.

"I just want everybody to know and understand, that the selection process is probably the most difficult selection process that players have ever had to endure and go through," Azinger said. "The top eight guys have really earned their spot and they have done it because they have played well this year and played well under pressure. For many of them, the Ryder Cup was forefront on their mind."