United States Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange announced on Monday that Scott Verplank and Paul Azinger were added to the U.S. Ryder Cup team as captain's selections.
Verplank finished 14th on the U.S. points list after a tie for seventh Sunday
at the PGA Championship. This will be the first Ryder Cup appearance for the 37-year-old.
"I had a pretty good idea what was going happen before I left Atlanta
last night," said Verplank, who became the first Ryder Cup rookie ever selected
to a U.S. squad as a captains's pick. "I was pretty excited. I knew he was
interested in how I played."
"I picked Scott for a lot of reasons," said Strange. "One is
his game. He is a very straight hitter off the tee. He has no shortcomings at
all in his entire game."
Verplank posted five top-10 finishes this season after returning to the winner's
circle at the 2000 Reno-Tahoe Open. He lost a playoff to Robert Damron at this
year's Byron Nelson Classic.
Azinger returns to the Ryder Cup after an eight-year absence. He has participated
in three previous Ryder Cups and has collected a 5-7-2 record, including a 2-0-1
record in Sunday singles play.
"There's a lot of good players I'm being picked ahead of," said Azinger,
who finished 22nd in the final standings. "I understand that. I didn't want
to lobby. I wanted to let my clubs do the talking. In the end, I have played a
lot better in the last two years."
"Motivator, he'll be good in the locker room," said Strange. "He
still can play and can play with some of these guys. He fits with about everybody
on this team."
Azinger was known in his Ryder Cup days as a fiery competitor who bested the
likes of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal in contests that were not always
friendly.
The U.S. Ryder Cup team was finalized after the PGA Championship with the top-10
automatically qualifying.
David Toms won his first major championship on Sunday and earned his first
Ryder Cup berth, finishing fifth.
Tiger Woods will play in his third consecutive Ryder Cup, finishing first in
points for the American side.
Phil Mickelson missed out on his first major championship Sunday but will represent
his country for a fourth consecutive time in September.
David Duval makes his second straight appearance at a Ryder Cup after breaking
through with a win at the British Open.
Rounding out the U.S. team were: Mark Calcavecchia (fourth appearance), Davis
Love III (fifth appearance), Scott Hoch (second appearance), Jim Furyk (third
appearance), Hal Sutton (fourth appearance) and Stewart Cink, the team's second
rookie.
The European team will not be finalized until after the BMW International next
month.
Tom Lehman was 10th on the points list but slipped out of the top-10 after
he missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He has played on the last three teams
and is undefeated in singles matches, including his opening 3 & 2 victory
over Lee Westwood in 1999 that sparked the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history.
"That was the toughest call I had to make," said Strange. "Bottom
line, he just hasn't played well."
Chris DiMarco, Joe Durant and two-time Ryder Cupper Brad Faxon were players
that were thought to be under consideration for captain's picks but were not selected.
The Ryder Cup matches are scheduled for September 28-30 at the Belfry in Sutton,
England.
