Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You [Hardcover]

Paul Azinger (Author), Dr. Ron Braund (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

The U.S. Ryder Cup team ended nearly a decade of European dominance in 2008 by laying aside their individual pursuits for a single week and bonding like brothers on golf's greatest stage.

Inspired by team-building techniques used by Navy SEALs, Ryder Cup captain and ABC commentator Paul Azinger divided the 12-man team into small groups, or pods. Then, with guidance from corporate team-building specialist and licensed family therapist Ron Braund, he placed golfers based on their personality types, rather than their golf games. The relationships among teammates created an atmosphere where Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, and the other U.S. golfers could perform at their highest levels.

In Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You, Azinger and Braund tell the compelling story of how the U.S. team members, half of them Ryder Cup rookies, overcame their underdog status to bring the cup back to America. In the telling, they offer team-building techniques that apply to sports, business, and beyond.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Azinger served as captain of the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, leading it to its first win over the Europeans since 1999. He was also a member of four Ryder Cup teams (1989, 1991, 1993, and 2002) and has won 14 worldwide professional championships, including the 1993 PGA championship. Shortly after the 1993 Ryder Cup, Azinger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in his right shoulder. His first book, Zinger, tells the story of his fight against cancer. He overcame that battle to win the 2000 Sony Open in Hawaii. Azinger and his family live in Bradenton, FL.

Dr. Ron Braund is a corporate consultant and family business adviser for several multibillion-dollar companies. As a relationship specialist, he has over 30 years' experience in counseling, family therapy, and ministry. His previous books on relationship topics include Understanding How Others Misunderstand You and The Strong-Willed Child or Dreamer? He lives in Atlanta, GA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Looking Glass Books (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929619383
• ISBN-13: 978-1929619382
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cracking the Code - worth the read, May 17, 2010

By 

Sterling Wharton "noregrets" (Southeast USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You (Hardcover)

Outstanding book on leadership & team-building principles. This book has some fun analogies and tells the story of building the winning Ryder Cup strategy. If you play golf you wont be able to put it down, but isn't really a golf story. If you don't play golf the principles still apply on matching up individuals and building teams with those that feed each others strengths, as well as the coach/manager offering the right reinforcement and corrective feedback based on personalities and individuals needs.

Outstanding photos and paper & print quality. Its almost a table top book in the form factor of a easy to handle and easily readable non-fiction book.

You will gain a lot of insight and make you think and respond "better" when it comes to interacting with and leading others. Its an easy read and well worth the time and money.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Birdie in Golf Books, June 14, 2010

By 

Big D (Auburn, AL. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You (Hardcover)

A very, very good golf book. (Don't let the fact that a clinical therapist is listed as co-author scare you away or cause you to hesitate on buying this book.) This is very much a golf book, and very much Paul Azinger's book. And it is a good one.

Good in the sense that it is about golfers, about people, about the game and the unique strategy that went into winning the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in 2008. This is a golf book and a history book in that it tells a golf story about a moment in golf history that will be remembered a long, long time.

In golf terms, this is book is a definite birdie, thanks in no small part to the good work of Dick Parker and Looking Glass Books in Atlanta.

Lots of good, meaningful color photos to make this book a collector's itemfor all who appreciate golf as it is played and as a sense of history.

P.S. And, as the Americans said at Valhalla, soccer does "suck."
Great, great, laugh-out-loud line in the book. Read it and you will laugh, too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars serious golfers must read this, May 16, 2011

By 

rosco - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You (Hardcover)

Loved it, easy to read and a great account of the Ryder Cup victory, a great read for anyone involved in "team projects" does not need to be golf related.