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By Bobby Hall
Special to PGATOUR.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Woody Austin realizes that his dogged pursuit of golf happiness may never get where he once hoped it would, but Sunday was an unforgettable glimpse of what might have been -- and could still be.

Woody Austin shot a career-low 62 on Sunday. He had shot a 63 on six previous occasions. (WireImage)

After shooting 8-under-par 62 to win the Stanford St. Jude Championship by five shots at TPC Southwind, Austin's remarks following his sweet triumph resembled the soul-searching honesty of a confessional.

"I've been pretty miserable all year," Austin said. "In the back of my mind, I'm thinking it's all coming to an end. The game has changed so much it's passed me by . . . but I certainly don't want the dream to end."

Suddenly after a career that's been interrupted by injuries and stints as a banker, a bartender, and a drugstore supplier, Austin, now 43, stood on the 18th green with a five-shot lead, assured of his third career victory and first since 2004.

"Nothing is more fun than being on the final green with a five-shot lead," Austin said.

In his post-round remarks, the self-taught Austin described himself as "an old-fashioned player," and "just your average everyday guy" who is "pretty scatter-brained" and "probably the most nervous person that's ever played this game."

Perhaps he probably didn't give himself enough for the grinding, gritty style that he always hoped would find glory and lifted him through long periods of hard times.

"When everybody says you're too hard on yourself, I try to look at it from the standpoint that if you go to work and you're not happy, you're not happy," Austin said. "I know this is a game, but it's still work and if I know that I'm better than what I've proven, am I supposed to be happy?"

Asked if he were happy late Sunday afternoon, he quickly responded, "Well, absolutely."

His score was the best final round on the PGA TOUR this year. It was the best final round by a Memphis winner in the 50-year history of the event.

"I am certainly not a brash person," Austin said. "I certainly don't toot my own horn, but it's nice to be able to say that when I say that I can play, I can actually prove it and this is proof.

"I'm 43, and you've never seen the potential that I have."

Sunday's remarkable round was the conclusion to an uplifting week for Austin, who qualified for the U. S. Open in Columbus, Ohio in a highly unlikely scenario. He purposefully broke his putter across his knee in frustration with seven holes remaining, and began putting with his sand wedge.

On the first putt with the wedge, he made a 7-footer for birdie, and a couple of holes later, he made a 40-footer for eagle, again putting with the wedge.

"I qualified by a shot," he said. "It was a freaky thing. I got lucky and hopefully I'm going to run with it (at the Open)."

Who can say he won't after what happened in the final round of the $6 million Stanford St. Jude Championship? He played the last 49 holes without a bogey on the firm, fast greens that confounded players all week.

Brian Gay's caddie hugs Austin on the final green. Gay finished fourth to match his best showing of the year. (WireImage)

"It was the most impressive round of golf I've ever seen," said his caddie, Brent Henley, also 43 and in his seventh year as a PGA TOUR caddie. "I've never seen anybody in my life hit it like that."

His round got quick momentum with a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 2 and he holed a 60-yard lob wedge for an eagle on the par-five No. 3. After making birdie at No.10 with a 28-footer, he chipped in -- again using a lob wedge -- from the fringe on No. 12.

"That's when it started dawning on me that today was going to be a special day," Austin said.

He played the back nine in 30 with five birdies.

Was it his best round ever?

"I feel like I played better once before when I shot 57 -- 13-under -- on my home course in college," Austin said. "But obviously, that's nothing to do with it under these circumstances and this position, so I'm ecstatic."

And he continued to express pride in his blue-collar work ethic.

"I'm a very old fashioned, feel type of player, and when it feels right, I know I'm in good shape," Austin said. "When it feels wrong, it may take me a little while to kind of get it."

He definitely got it right Sunday.

"There's no question I can get better," Austin said, asking if he might ever reach the potential he'd dreamed of. "There's no question I can get closer. But it's hard to say that I can show you my potential that I could have had at 30.

"If you took technology backwards, then maybe I possibly could."

Whatever, his finish was a special tribute to work and belief and self-determination.

"I'd have to say today's finish was definitely the best I've ever had."