Azinger will have four captain’s picks in 2008

The U.S. hasn’t had much luck lately in the Ryder Cup, so it changed the rules about making the team and added a new captain in Paul Azinger, who came up with the revamped qualifying process in the first place.

Azinger, 47, was selected captain by the PGA of America for the 2008 Ryder Cup matches to be played at Valhalla Golf Club near Louisville, Ky., where the U.S. will be trying to reverse a trend that has added up to European dominance. Europe has kept the Ryder Cup eight times in the last 11 meetings.

In changing the manner in which the U.S. team is selected, the PGA of America signed on to Azinger’s suggestions that enable him to choose four of the 12 players on the team, double the normal number.

“I’m going to get the blame if it doesn’t work,� he said. “I would like some of the credit if it does.�

What’s more, Azinger can wait until the week before the Ryder Cup to make his captain’s picks.

The increase in the number of captain’s picks is one of a number of changes in a full-scale remodeling of the qualifying process for the U.S. side, which has lost the Ryder Cup in consecutive matches, 18 1/2 -9 1/2 , the worst losses by the U.S. since the Ryder Cup began in 1927.

Azinger, whose appointment was formally introduced Monday by Roger Warren, president of the PGA of America, will preside over a team that is selected by money earnings and not top-10 performances in tournaments.

Under the new format, one point will be awarded for every $1,000 a player makes at the majors in 2007 -- the only points awarded next year -- and in regular tour events in 2008. Two points are awarded for every $1,000 earned at majors in 2008.

Also, half a point for every $1,000 a player makes at tournaments opposite majors is at stake.

The reason behind that stance is a midcourse correction of a flaw in the previous system, where John Rollins won the B.C. Open -- played opposite the British Open -- and nearly made the Ryder Cup team on points. The thinking is that performances in majors should be weighted more heavily than those occurring in lesser tournaments played at the same time.

Previously in the PGA of America’s criteria was a points system based on top-10 finishes, which meant a player could score points with a top-10 finish at a lesser tournament while someone who was 11th at the Masters earned nothing.

Azinger, the 1993 PGA Champion, was 5-7-2 in the Ryder Cup and 2-0-2 in singles. His counterpart as Europe’s captain is Nick Faldo, 49, a six-time major champion who has more points in Ryder Cup than any other European. The two new captains halved their 1993 singles meeting in a Ryder Cup match that had no bearing on the outcome.

Azinger and Faldo have worked together as broadcasters for ABC, and although Faldo said in a statement he would get along with Azinger, the U.S. captain wasted no time putting pressure on Faldo. Azinger said Faldo would be under scrutiny compared with Europe’s winning captains Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam.

“I’ve got more of an everything-to-gain situation,� Azinger said. “There’s going to be a little more heat on Nick to get it right, and I think a little more of the microscope will be on Nick if he gets it wrong.�

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Tiger Woods has been conquering golf courses around the world. Now he’s going to start building them.

Following other players-turned-architects, Woods announced he has formed Tiger Woods Design and will start looking for land to design golf courses. He did not say where his first golf course would be, although an announcement is expected by the end of the year and it probably will be outside the United States.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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