Player
Profile
After
high school, a career in golf seemed highly
unlikely for Azinger ... He was working at his
father's marina in Sarasota and pumping gas,
and on the golf course could barely break 40
... At Brevard Junior College he decided he
wanted to play more golf and was introduced
to John Redman, who helped Azinger bring his
average score down from 77 to 72 in a year ...
Two years later, in the fall of 1981, he earned
his Tour card in Q-School, but lost it with
earnings of only $10,655 in 1982 ... Failing
Q-School the second time, Azinger started playing
the mini-tours, and would not earn his card
for good until 1985 ... His game steadily improved
until his breakout year of 1987, when he won
three times, finished second to Nick Faldo at
the British Open, and ended up second on the
money list ... Underwent surgery on his right
shoulder on June 20th, 1991, but was only sidelined
for three months ... Won Tournament of Champions.
Azinger's greatest year on the tour was 1993,
with wins at Memorial, New England and the PGA
Championship ... He also played in his third
Ryder Cup that year ... In November of 1993
however, Azinger's best year took a disturbing
turn when he was diagnosed with lymphoma; he
would miss much of the 1994 season while undergoing
successful treatment of the cancer ... Since
then has fought back and his earnings have improved
each year ... The comeback finally proved successful
when he won the 2000 Sony Open in Hawaii ...
Member of the 2000 Presidents Cup team.
PGA Tour Wins: 12 - 1987 Phoenix Open, Panasonic-Las
Vegas Invitational, Greater Hartford Open, 1988
Hertz Bay Hill Classic, 1989 Greater Hartford
Open, 1990 Tournament of Championship, 1991
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 1992 Tour Championship,
1993 Memorial Tournament, New England Classic,
PGA Championship, 2000 Sony Open In Hawaii.
Other Wins: 2 - 1990 and 1992 BMW International
Open (Eur).
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