Azinger questions Koepka’s love for playing in Ryder Cup
Brooks Koepka says in an interview with Golf Digest that Ryder Cup week is hectic and “a bit odd” because it takes him from his individual routine and leaves him no time to decompress.
It was enough to make Paul Azinger wonder if Koepka should even play next week.
“I’m not sure he loves the Ryder Cup that much,” Azinger said during a conference call for NBC Sports, where he now serves as the lead golf analyst. “If he doesn’t love it, he should relinquish his spot and get people there who do love the Ryder Cup.”
For Azinger, the Ryder Cup is personal.
He played four times and is best known for his dispute with Seve Ballesteros and an epic battle with Nick Faldo in 1993 that led to a draw. Azinger also was known as “Captain America” in 2008 when he introduced a pod system to get the players more invested. The U.S. wound up beating Europe at Valhalla that year.
Koepka never said in the wide-ranging interview he didn’t like the Ryder Cup. He has played on the last two teams, and even competed on an badly injured ankle in the 2016 PGA Championship in a bid to qualify for the team, which he did.
Koepka has back-to-back wins in the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship and has a reputation for
playing his best in the majors.
Baseball
SEATTLE MARINERS LAND ALL-STAR GAME EARLIER THAN EXPECTED » When the Seattle Mariners started down the path of bidding for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the target was 2024 or later to host for a third time.
When MLB came back to the club earlier this year asking if 2023 was a possibility, the Mariners quickly kicked into gear.
Olympics
EX-KENYA SPORTS MINISTER
GUILTY OF CORRUPTION PAYS $32K FINE » Kenya’s former sports minister paid a fine of just over $32,000
on Thursday to avoid a sixyear jail sentence after being convicted of corruption and abuse of office for misappropriating money set aside for the country’s 2016 Olympic team.
Hassan Wario’s sentence was to pay the fine or go to jail. He paid and was released from custody soon after Thursday’s sentencing hearing, provoking uproar from some Kenyans on social media.
Horse racing
JOCKEY MEJIA BANNED 10
YEARS FOR USING ‘BUZZER’ AT MONMOUTH » Jockey Tomas Mejia has been been banned 10 years for using an electronic device to win a race at Monmouth Park earlier this month.
In a ruling, the stewards at Monmouth Park also fined the 26-year-old Panamanian $5,000 and recommended that the New Jersey Racing Commission permanently revoke his jockey’s license. Tracks around the country will uphold the ban.
Soccer
QUAKES EDGED 4-3 » Rubio Rubín scored two goals, Albert Rusnák added a goal and two assists and Real Salt Lake beat San Jose, spoiling a hat trick by the Earthquakes’ Javier “Chofis” López Wednesday night.
Justin Meram tied it at 3 for Real Salt Lake (9-96) in the 71st minute, and Rubín slipped a one-touch shot inside the post in the 81st minute.