Paul Azinger was named U.S. Ryder Cup captain on Monday and made an immediate impact with the announcement of a revamped selection process aimed at giving him the hottest players ahead of the 2008 matches.

Azinger, hoping to break Europe's hold on the trophy, will get four captain's picks instead of two for the 2008 matches at Valhalla Golf Club with eight automatic berths on his 12-man team tied to money earned in events leading up to the Cup.

The 46-year-old Azinger, who won the 1993 PGA Championship at Inverness and is a veteran of four Ryder Cups, was introduced by the PGA of America at a news conference in Louisville, Kentucky, site of the 2008 matches.

"It's the greatest honour you can bestow on a professional golfer," Azinger said.

PGA president Roger Warren said Azinger "demonstrated a clear and consistent passion and excitement for the Ryder Cup, and that passion and excitement will excite his players. It will motivate them.

"He is going to lead this team at Valhalla and begin the resurgence of the American Ryder Cup, and we're going to win it here in Valhalla under Paul Azinger.

The U.S. have not won the Cup since 1999 at Brookline, with Europe taking the last three competitions.

Azinger, as a player, is known for his competitive, gutsy attitude.

He played on triumphant U.S. teams in 1991 and 1993 and was unbeaten in singles matches where his two wins came against Spanish heavyweights Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal.

"I think he's a great choice. He's feisty. He brings a little bit of an attitude to a team that I think needs it right now," U.S. Ryder Cup veteran Jim Furyk told reporters at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on Sunday.

Azinger won three of his 12 PGA Tour titles in 1993, a career-best year that ended on a bitter note when he was diagnosed with lymphoma in his right shoulder.

His successful fightback culminated in his most recent Tour victory at the 2000 Hawaiian Open.

The Europeans appointed six-times major winner Nick Faldo as their next captain in March last year. Azinger and Faldo have worked together as commentators on TV broadcasts the last two years.

They were both working at the Tour Championship last weekend and Azinger said he had already been congratulated by Faldo.

"He text-messaged me two minutes before I came in the door.

"It'll be a good rivalry," Azinger added. "It adds a lot of intrigue, but it will still be America versus Europe, not Nick versus Paul."

Azinger said Faldo might be under more pressure than him because of Europe's recent record in the event.

"I have more of an everything-to-gain situation. There will a little more heat on Nick to get it right. A little more of the microscope on him if he loses. Bottom line is it's up to the players."

Azinger will face a tough task as U.S. captain after Tom Lehman's team crashed to a record-equalling defeat by 18-1/2 points to 9-1/2 at the K Club in Ireland in September.

The Americans have lost five of the last six Ryder Cups.