After His Biggest Win, Paul Azinger Received the Call That Changed Everything

Mar 17, 2026, 3:00 PM CUT

The 2000 Open Championship, the 129th 000723/ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND/PHOTO MARK NEWCOMBE/THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PAUL AZINGER THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2000 AT ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND. JULY 2000 Copyright: xMarkxNewcombex

Paul Azinger's greatest professional triumph was followed by a life-altering phone call. Fresh off his 1993 PGA Championship win, the golfer received news that would change his career and his life. The celebration was cut short by a call about a required biopsy.

On the Friday night of the PGA Championship, he received a call from Frank Jobe, who told him that a biopsy was needed the following Tuesday.

Paul Azinger recalled during a press conference at the Senior PGA Championship on Monday:

Bildnummer: 03956262 Datum: 18.09.2008 Copyright: imago/Icon SMI Kapitän Paul Azinger (Team USA) - Pressekonferenz - PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxONLY (Icon4394587); Vdig, quer, close, PK, Pressetermin, Teamkapitän, Ryder Cup 2008, Rydercup, PGA Tour Louisville Golf Herren Einzel Einzelbild Randmotiv Personen Image number 03956262 date 18 09 2008 Copyright imago Icon Smi Captain Paul Azinger team USA Press conference PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxONLY Vdig horizontal Close press conference Press call Team captain Ryder Cup 2008 Rydercup PGA Tour Louisville Golf men Singles Single Rand motive Human Beings

“Friday night of that event, I got a call from Frank Jobe saying he wanted to biopsy me, Tuesday after the event, but I was already in The Skins Game. Then I won the event. I won the PGA Championship.”

As Azinger had revealed before, he needed multiple anti-inflammatories to keep going because of troubles with his shoulder. It was so bad that he couldn't even put the scorecard back in his pocket.

Later, at the Inverness Club, he finished at 12-under and moved into a playoff with Greg Norman. He had closed the final round with four birdies over the last seven holes, which brought him into contention. Going into sudden death, Azinger missed a putt for the win, but so did Norman! And that was all the opportunity that Azinger needed to win his lone major in the 75th edition of the PGA Championship!

After the win, the plan was pushed further. Once he completed his commitments, he finally underwent the test. The results then confirmed Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Azinger then described what happened after the win: “Then he called me, congratulated me, and said, well, I guess we can put it off, and we did. I finally did the biopsy after The Skins Game, and then I got the bad news.”

Even with the diagnosis confirmed, he continued to compete, but as he later explained, that phase was no longer the same.

Paul Azinger on What Followed After the Diagnosis

What followed were weeks of radiation treatments and injections, with periods of sickness. But after six chemotherapy treatment sessions, the prognosis looked brighter, with a few more weeks of radiation treatment still in store.

Eventually, Azinger's long battle against cancer ended, and he even returned to captain his Ryder Cup side!

“It really cut me off. That was kind of the end of my glory days, to be honest with you. I still made it back to the top 10 in the world ranking, I think, and I played another Ryder Cup and another Presidents Cup, and I won one more tournament. So I'm happy about all that,” said Paul Azinger during the conference.

Fast forward to 2026, and he remains involved in the game. The 66-year-old is now considering whether to compete in the Senior PGA Championship, scheduled at The Concession Golf Club from April 16 to 19.

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar