What Paul Azinger said about reports he didn’t want to meet Bill Clinton at the White House

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Scottie Scheffler was not even born the last time an American team managed to win the Ryder Cup on European soil.

Team USA will head to Adare Manor in 2027 looking to end a wait of 34 years for an away Ryder Cup victory. Since their most recent triumph on the road, Europe have won four times in the United States – including in 2025.

Tom Watson was the captain for the 1993 Ryder Cup. And he went on to lead his team to a 15-13 victory at The Belfry, with the visitors winning six of the 12 matches on Sunday.

It was a particularly impressive showing considering that there had been some controversy surrounding the team in the days before they travelled across the Atlantic.

Some Team USA players were reportedly reluctant to meet President Clinton at the White House in 1993

President Bill Clinton had invited the American players to the White House for a dinner ahead of the Ryder Cup.

Clinton had won the election the previous year. He became the first Democrat to win the White House since Jimmy Carter.

Clinton’s victory did not appear to please some of the PGA Tour’s best players, who traditionally tend to support Republican candidates. According to a report from Sports Illustrated, the likes of Paul Azinger, Lee Janzen and John Cook reportedly expressed their reluctance to meet with the President.

However, Watson ensured that his players did attend the event. Sports Illustrated noted that Azinger and Janzen wore masks of Clinton and his wife Hillary to break the ice. And it is claimed that the President did manage to impress the team.

But perhaps Clinton did not need to win over the players anyway.

What Paul Azinger said about reports he didn’t want to meet President Clinton

In 2018, Azinger took part in an interview with Golf Digest in which he claimed that there was never any question about whether he would attend.

“When the 1993 Ryder Cup team started to take shape and the visit to the White House came up, it was reported that I was not going to go because Bill Clinton was president. It was a 1993 version of fake news. Of course I went. We all went and had a great time,” he said.

Despite the team enjoying themselves, it is difficult to imagine that it positively impacted the number of votes Clinton received by the time the 1996 election came around.