Azinger won't divulge secret of success

Paul Azinger vowed to keep the secrets to American success at Valhalla under wraps after his side regained the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1999 on Sunday night.

Azinger's USA team did not let a 9-7 overnight lead over Europe slip during the singles matches as they swept to a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory in Kentucky. Jim Furyk sealed the victory for his country by winning 2&1 against Miguel Angel Jimenez on the 17th hole in the eighth match of the day.

Asked what he had done to make his team believe they could reverse a run of three European victories, the last two if which were resounding 18 1/2-9 1/2 hammerings, Azinger said: "Well, I'm not going to tell you just yet. Not yet. I took them in, I came in with a plan."

Azinger did concede the changes he had made in the two years since his appointment had made a difference in assembling the best team possible for the American cause and also praised the home fans for answering his call to become his side's 13th man at Valhalla in a way US crowds had failed to do in the past.

"Well, a lot of things changed from the last Ryder Cup to this one, and we created the '13th man' and I'm real proud of these people, and they made a big difference and kept our guys energised and our guys bought into the concept, and they bonded.

"We just went out there with a one shot-at-a-time mission, and we did it."

Most of all, though, Azinger heaped praise on his 12 players, including six Ryder Cup debutants, and in particular his four wild cards - JB Holmes, Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan.

"You know, they brought themselves there, and if I was the guy that helped organise it, then I'm happy to be that.

"But those guys did it. They deserve the credit."