Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18
Wednesday 4 March 2020

The 4-letter

word from BUCKS

Azinger

that stirs

Ryder Cup STOPPED

By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The
Ryder Cup is more than HERE
six months away, and all it
took was a four-letter word
from Paul Azinger to get
Europe worked up over
defending more than just
the gold trophy.
Azinger regrets using the
word, one he says he slips
into speech all the time.
T-H-A-T.
The scene was Sunday at
the Honda Classic, where
Azinger was working as
the lead analyst for NBC
Sports. The context was
Tommy Fleetwood of Eng-
land, now the No. 10 play-
er in the world, trying to win
for the first time on the PGA
Tour.
Fleetwood did not achieve
this ranking by accident.
He has five European Tour
victories, twice against
strong fields in Abu Dha-
bi, another in the French
Open in 2017 at Le Golf Na-
tional, where a year later
he would go 4-1 in the Ry-
der Cup. He was runner-up
to Brooks Koepka at Shin-
necock Hills and to Shane
Lowry at Royal Portrush.
His best finish at a regular
PGA Tour event was a tie
for third last year at Bay Hill.
“A lot of pressure here,”
Azinger said on the broad-
cast. “You’re trying to
prove to everybody that
you’ve got what it takes.
These guys know, you can Heat stun Bucks 105-89, holding
win all you want on that
European Tour or in the in- Antetokounmpo to 13 points
ternational game and all
that, but you have to win
on the PGA Tour.”
That European Tour. Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill (3) takes a knee to the midsection as Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic (7) goes up to shoot
during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 2, 2020, in Miami.
Continued on page 22 Associated Press
Page 20