Masters 1999: Azinger makes his point

Monday, Apr. 5 5:08pm ET
Azinger makes his point
By Greg Robertson
ESPN Golf Online
J.P. Hayes, Olin Browne and Trevor Dodds are just three of the players making their Masters debut, each earning an invitation to Augusta by winning PGA Tour events last season.
But if this were 2000, each would be at home this week thanks to new entry standards. World Rankings will be more important than victories, and that is absolutely wrong says tour veteran Paul Azinger.

Azinger says the rankings eliminate some of the consequences of playing poorly.
"I don't want to go on a crusade to be the guy who is anti-rankings, but it obviously has problems," Azinger said. "This isn't tennis, you know.
"Golf is a different sport, and that is why ranking golfers is not really a great idea to exempt them to tournaments, in my opinion. There should be another criteria."
The World Golf Rankings have taken a lot of heat from players and the public, primarily because it took David Duval 10 wins over an 18-month period to overtake Tiger Woods for the No. 1 position. Woods had just three wins around the world during that same span.
But Azinger said it is the importance the rankings are taking in other areas, such as getting into majors like The Masters, that is the real problem.
"One thing about our tour that I thnk the general public really appreciates is we are perceived as a bunch of guys who really earn what we make," Azinger said. "We make a 4-footer on the last hole to finish third by ourselves, or if you miss it, you are tied for third with six guys. There is a lot of money in that."
The difference in that put can be thousands of dollars.
"We play for cash," Azinger said. "But there are consequences. It is a monetary consequence in that situation. But at the end of the year there are consequences if you perform well the last day and you get in the top 30 on the money list, it gets you into the majors."
The new system at Augusta allows the top 50 in the World Rankings into the field, regardless if they have won or not.
"When you have a point system that no one clearly understands, you don't know how to acquire points, I think it's just different," Azinger said of the pressure to perform well. "I think the guys ought to have a 4-footer or 5-footer to choke off to either get in or just miss this tournament, and it is not that way."