Ex-PGA champ Azinger to get Payne Stewart Award

Paul Azinger is getting what he considers the best honor of his profession. He was introduced Monday as recipient of the Payne Stewart Award that acknowledges traits belonging to his closest pal on the PGA Tour.

The award started in 2000, a yr after Stewart and three others died in a aircraft crash. It has turn into one of many high awards in golf, with a ceremony televised reside from Atlanta in the course of the Tour Championship in August.

“To be named the recipient of this award, representing my dearest pal, is among the proudest moments in my life,” Azinger stated.

Azinger is a 12-time winner on the PGA Tour, together with the 1993 PGA Championship that he gained in a playoff. He’s equally recognized for reshaping the Ryder Cup qualification system and main the Individuals to a uncommon victory towards Europe in 2008. He now works as a tv analyst for the PGA Tour Champions.

The award honors a participant who exhibits character, sportsmanship and dedication to charity. In 2021, Azinger and his spouse, Toni, opened the Azinger Household Compassion Middle, which serves susceptible and struggling households in Manatee County in Florida.

The Southern Firm, which sponsors the award, donates $300,000 to the recipient’s charity and $200,000 to Stewart Household Basis applications.