Paul

Azinger

Azinger shot 75-78 and missed the cut by a wide margin.

Obviously, you need to get them out of your lineup.

The sectional qualifier at Ohio State is still a very strong field of 144 players that will be competing for one of the 24 spots to play in the U.S. Open.

Azinger missed the cut at last week’s Travelers and is currently only 163rd on the Money List. He has been replaced in the field by Tag Ridings, whose best finish at the Buick was a T-55 in 2005.

Azinger was replaced in the field by Tag Ridings, who carded a first round score of 2-over-par.

Azinger has missed one cut and has had a series of withdrawals since the Memorial Tournament. He has been replaced in the field by John Daly, who had his best finish of the year with a T-16 at last week’s Buick Open.

Azinger made the cut at the Sony Open with a T-32, however he has miss his last two cuts on the Tour. He has been replaced in the field by John Riegger, whose best finish this year was a T-34 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Azinger could only play in 13 tournaments in 2008 due to a back injury. He has been granted a Major Medical Extension and has 14 events in to earn $611,111. If Azinger can reach that earnings level, he will be granted Major Medical Extension status for the entire 2008 season.

This should be a very interesting year for Zinger. He’s the Ryder Cup captain for starters. Undoubtedly, his undivided attention will migrate to that at some point over the summer. But he’s still a “full-time” golfer in that there is no exception for Ryder Cup captains regarding their PGA Tour status. He turned 48 on Sunday so if he wants a job in 2009, he’ll have play a lot of golf this year. His best finish in all of 2007 was at the Sony (T-13), where he won in 2000 and has finished 2nd thrice and 3rd twice in 21 career starts. A back injury has kept him away from competition since June so it’s encouraging that he’s ready to go. If you absolutely need to play him, THIS would be the week. Full-season leagues are advised to abstain from owning Ryder Cup captains in the same year of the competition.

Azinger has played in a handful of events this season, but his only made cut was at the Sony, where he tied for 69th place.