Shock and awe: U.S. captain Azinger pulls off giant Ryder feat

"That question doesn't deserve an answer," assistant Jose Maria Olazabal said, disgustedly.

Everybody was begging for encores in the other locker room, where every Azinger move seemed to have worked. The team even invented a new term, coined by Boo Weekley. They learned how to "compatibate." Which would appear to be a compressed version of compatible and cohabitate. Even Weekley said he wasn't sure what it meant, but they seemed to be doing it.

Azinger cut the rough and gave everybody a chance to make birdies, and kept the greens at PGA Tour speeds. Whether it was an accident or not, the latter might have helped the American side finally make some putts.

"We were very comfortable on the golf course," said Harrington, who was a disappointing 0-3-1. "Personally, I look at these things, and the U.S., they obviously played very well this week and they putted well, and they do tend to putt a little better than the Europeans when the greens get very fast. We tend to putt a little bit better when the greens are a tiny bit slower, like the last couple times, and that can make all the difference in a week."

Then there was the structural overhaul, the most sweeping changes in the selection process since the European continent was added in 1979.

Azinger tilted the points to reward steady play this season, pushed back the selection deadline to identify the hottest players at the last minute and requested four captain's picks, double the previous number.

"I think the first step to getting here and winning this Ryder Cup was when Zinger changed the selection process two years ago," Justin Leonard said. "You know, we've got the 12 best available players here this week, and I saw some incredible golf, and it was inspiring to me by every one of these guys and by our captain, and I'm very proud to be a part of this group."

Despite entering the matches with six rookies in his locker room, he used the new blood to the American advantage. Four of the six rookies won at least two matches outright and the six-pack was a combined 9-4-8 overall, a dream scenario, really.

Unlike the prickly Faldo, Azinger was all but being begged to re-up as the head honcho. There should rightly be pressure to retain his as a captain, something that hasn't been done since Ben Hogan led the 1947 and '49 teams.

When the subject was broached, Justin Leonard rose out of his seat and tilted his head toward Azinger to hear the response. Phil Mickelson, who had played on three straight losing teams, chimed in with, "Zing in '10," a phrase he kept repeating. Leonard parroted the same sentence.

Toni Azinger, the captain's wife, hardly dismissed the idea.

"Sure, why not?" she said. "We had a great time this week."

Her dearly beloved wasn't moving quite as quickly.

"I'm not going to think about it," he said. "I'm just going to stay up all night and party with my boys."

While there were some minor criticisms along the way, Azinger's Ryder reclamation project seemed to work as though he'd sprinkled holy water on all 12 heads.

"It's been two years with my hands on the wheel and on Friday, I had to let go," he said. "I smashed my foot to the floor, took my hands off the wheel and turned my head. I didn't know what was going to happen, whether I was going to crash into a tree.

"I had to trust my guys and they came through for me."