Paul Azinger Reveals Secrets of ‘08 Ryder Cup Win

"Azinger’s tale makes for fascinating reading..." The Times (UK), May 13, 2010

ATLANTA, May 14, 2010—U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Paul Azinger returns this May to Louisville, Ky., home of Valhalla Golf Club and the 2008 upset that returned the Cup to American shores after a decade of European dominance.  Azinger travels to the site this time to release Cracking the Code, a behind-the-scenes look at one of golf's most unusual winning strategies.  

• Nationwide Release:  JUNE 2010 (Looking Glass Books)
• Launch Event:            May 18, Louisville, Ky.

Authored by Azinger and his Ryder Cup co-strategist, corporate team-builder Ron Braund, Cracking the Code (Looking Glass Books, 2010) reveals successful principles that can be applied far beyond sports.  

On May 18, Azinger and Braund will discuss their strategy at a 3 p.m. media roundtable at Valhalla Golf Club.  Later that evening, they will address a private gathering of Valhalla Golf Club members and PGA of America supporters.

With the Americans losing five of the six previous Ryder Cup matches, Azinger sought to reverse the team's slide by creating a radical team approach in a game dominated by individual greatness.  "Would there have been a book if Europe had won?" the Associated Press recently asked Azinger.  "No.  There would be no story to tell, Azinger said.  I don't know who wants to read a 'We tried and it didn't work' book" (AP, April 27, 2010).

The now legendary, though still much wondered about, strategy focused on several key principles from elite military operations and business including (pages 4-5, Cracking the Code):

• Place players into four-man pods based on personalities rather than golf assets
• Control the controllables
• Trust and empower assistant captains and the players
• Communicate with each golfer based on his personality type

Members of the 2008 Ryder Cup team have since credited their win to this team-building philosophy:

"We all bought into the pod strategy, then Paul set the tone by giving us ownership, and it worked."
-Phil Mickelson, 2010 Masters champion

"I've been on teams before, but this was the first time I looked and grasped the idea of how I can make the other person feel more comfortable."
-Jim Furyk, 2010 Verizon Heritage champion

"The most stressful part of Ryder Cup week is always the uncertainty, but [this] system went a long way toward putting everyone at ease."
-Stewart Cink, 2009 British Open champion

Published by Looking Glass Books and scheduled for release in June 2010, Cracking the Code illustrates a system that helped America's best golfers capture Ryder Cup glory "by laying aside their individual pursuits for a single week and bonding like brothers on golf's greatest stage" (inside cover, Cracking the Code).