THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210207
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Golfing great Paul Azinger was on top of the world. He had just won the 1993 PGA Championship and was set for a stellar career in professional golf.
Then the bottom fell out.
A persistent pain in his shoulder was diagnosed as lymphoma cancer. Suddenly, the determined pro golfer faced his biggest challenge in life.
Azinger will tell his story at the 11th annual Suffolk Leadership Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m. May 4 at the National Guard Armory.
This event, patterned after the National Prayer Breakfast movement and coinciding with the National Day of Prayer, is meant to encourage people to recognize publicly the privileges and responsibilities of a "nation under God."
Azinger's appearance will be the second stop of a national tour to promote his new book, "Zinger: A Champion's Story of Determination, Courage and Charging Back." It is co-written by Ken Abraham.
In 10 years on the PGA Tour, Azinger - "Zinger" to his friends and fans - has won 11 tournaments, including the 1993 PGA Championship. In 1987, he was the PGA Player of the Year.
But in September 1993, at age 33 and at the peak of his career, doctors told him that the pain in his right shoulder blade was caused by cancer.
After chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation treatment, Azinger returned to the PGA circuit. He credits his Christian faith for taking him through this life- and career-threatening ordeal.
Arnold Palmer recently said, "Paul Azinger has proved to all of us that he is a winner in ways much more important than the victories that he has achieved on the golf course."
Mickey Callanen, president of Guess Watches, predicts Azinger will once again be a strong contender in 1995.
"I know Paul as a fierce competitor, loyal friend, loving father and devoted husband. On the golf course, he's a colossal winner. But cancer showed us how great a winner he is, and the real secret to his winning. . . . Christ is his caddie!"
Azinger's book will be on sale at the breakfast, and he will autograph them.
The breakfast will feature state senators and delegates, City Council members and Mayor S. Chris Jones, local School Board members and student leaders from Suffolk's public and private schools. ILLUSTRATION: Paul Azinger will speak at the Suffolk Leadership Prayer
Breakfast.
TICKETS
Where: Chorey & Associates Realty, 804 W. Washington St.,
Suffolk.
Cost: $12 each; table for 8, $96.
by CNB