Paul Azinger unplugged on Ryder Cup pay, shot clocks and more

Paul Azinger is as candid – and spicy with his comments – as ever.

Speaking to Rocco Mediate on Mediate’s SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show, “The Rocco Hour,” on Tuesday night, Azinger weighed in on U.S. Ryder Cup players being paid, his conversation with U.S. captain Keegan Bradley and why he declined to sign a letter to the PGA from numerous past U.S. captains.

“What do you think about [pay-for-play]?”

That’s all Mediate had to say to get Azinger going. “Well, I contacted Keegan about it and, you know, the past captains wrote a letter expressing their just disdain for the idea of that. And it was a little harsh I felt. I wanted to edit it, and I tried and I ended up not signing it,” Azinger said. “They got a little impatient with me and they just sent it out, and I got a text pretty quickly from Keegan thanking me for not being on the letter.”

Azinger is supportive of players getting paid as long as the money goes to charity.

“I feel like there’s so much money there now that you have to pay those players but just to charity. You can’t go in there and pocket that money, I don’t think. It’s the greatest privilege to be there. If you need to pocket that money at this point, once you qualify for Ryder Cup you’ve made a pile of money already,” he said. “When I was the captain they gave us, I wanna say, $200,000. I honestly don’t remember if it went directly to my charity or to our donor advisor fund. I don’t recall that at the moment, that was 16 years ago. But we did get $200,000 and it all went to charity. And I’m for it being, you know, a million a piece or $500,000 a piece, let them do the math, send it to charity. Do for others. You know, we’re in this life to surrender to a higher power. And I believe being in service to others.”

Azinger added: “But those guys, I think the crowd in New York would turn on them so fast, you know, like they did in Detroit on the American players that wouldn’t sign autographs. They turned on the Americans up there and they’ll turn on ’em at Bethpage Black. And it won’t be pretty if they get outmaneuvered by Europe. And they’re dealing with Luke Donald, who’s pretty clever, he’s gonna say, you know, he’ll run a campaign how we play for pride or whatever. And I’m telling you, you want the crowd behind you up there. But those guys need to be compensated for what they’re doing and I feel like it should all filter through their charities of their choice.”

Pace of play is another hot-button topic that Azinger touched on with Mediate during the show.

“When I took this job, I suggested the shot clock immediately to the staff and I’m sure the players would embrace it. There’s a right way to do it and it’s a real competition. You know, the TGL’s cool. It’s kind of pretty fantastic really to watch that. I don’t know how sustainable that’s gonna end up, but the idea if they break out the shot clock and that makes the difference, then more power to ’em because slow play is really the biggest issue on our Tour,” Azinger said.

Azinger also shared his thoughts on the Tour’s decision to limit fields and the number of Tour cards beginning in 2026.

“Everything we ever did when I was on the PAC was to try to create opportunity and protect guys from losing an opportunity to play. And it feels like now these guys all climbed up on the ship and the last guy on the boat switched around and grabbed the ladder and pulled it right up onto the boat. And I don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t think players like it because it’s just harder for anyone to get in that top however many, I don’t know, what’s the number? 70? The magic number, the elevated events. [It’s top 50 to be exempt into all of the signature events.] It’s because I think they think ratings are tanking, but there are just so many different ways to watch golf. Maybe they’re not as bad as they think.”

Let’s hope Azinger brings this level of commentary to the booth when he takes over for Lanny Wadkins this weekend as the lead analyst for PGA Tour Champions this season. Welcome back, Zinger. We missed you.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Paul Azinger on Ryder Cup pay and reduced fields