Sponsored by:
He has not played in a Ryder Cup since then, although he has gone 5-4-1 in two Presidents Cup appearances.
"It's nice to be known for something good like that," Leonard said of his putt heard 'round the world. "And to be part of a winning Ryder Cup team, that's the last memory I have of it, personally. So hopefully, I can bring some of that into the locker room and have a positive influence on the event."
The criteria was changed to effectively base the points on money in the current year, with double points in the majors. That enabled Curtis to make the team with his tie for second at the PGA Championship, and Azinger said he was happy to have him.
"He's got that kind of demeanor that you need on the Ryder Cup team," Azinger said. "You need a bunch of different type of personalities for a Ryder Cup team to blend, and Ben Curtis ... a little more stoic, a little more subdued. But I like his personality. He's that type of guy that's going to put his head down and barrel on."
In past years, Monday after the PGA Championship was a time for the U.S. captain to announce his two selections. Azinger got twice that many under the new system, and he asked to wait until Sept. 2 to make his selections closer to the competition.
"I'm really happy that I don't have to pick four players this morning," Azinger said. It would have been difficult to know what to do."
It might not get any easier three weeks from now.
J.B. Holmes had a chance to earn a spot on the team with a fifth-place finish. One shot out of the lead going into the final round, he started triple bogey-bogey-bogey and shot 81. U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate, who was 12th in the standings, shot 85.
None of that seemed to matter to Azinger.
"If ever there was a golf course you could discount a poor round, this would be the one," he said. "Would I have liked both of them to have played better? Of course. There's three weeks to go. I like both of them a lot. So I don't think you can say that Rocco choked yesterday, and I really don't think J.B. has any choke in him."
Azinger said he would ask the PGA of America to continue the standings so he can keep tabs on who's playing well.
Europe, meanwhile, will take its top 10 players from two lists - one based on raw world ranking points earned over the last year, the other based on a money list - on Aug. 31. Nick Faldo will have two captain's picks the next day.
