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By T.J. Auclair
PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

ILE BIZARD, MONTREAL, Canada -- One is never too old to be a rookie. Just ask Woody Austin.

Woody Austin and fellow Presidents Cup rookie Zach Johnson prepare to play the the fifth hole during practice. (WireImage)

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At age 43, Austin is the oldest of six rookies teeing it up in this week's Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club. Austin joins Hunter Mahan (25), Lucas Glover (27) and Zach Johnson (31) as the quartet of rookies on the U.S. team, while Geoff Ogilvy (30) and Rory Sabbatini (31) are the two freshmen on the International side.

Not only is Austin the oldest rookie in these matches, he's also the oldest member of Team USA. That should spare him from some needling, right?

Not with this group.

"I found out what it's like to be a rookie," Austin said. "You've got to have some pretty thick skin at times. Like we all say, it's such a goal [to make the Presidents Cup team]. It may get monotonous to hear it, but it's really an honor and a privilege. We play in a game that's such an individual game, we're trying to beat each other's brains in week to week but it is an absolute honor and privilege to play with these guys and I'm so proud that I can actually call them teammates this week as opposed to opponents. I can't be any happier than I am right now as I am finally being able to say I'm part of a team."

Austin will get his rookie feet wet early and in a big way. He tees it up alongside partner Phil Mickelson in the second of Thursday's foursome matches on Thursday, going against Vijay Singh and no less than Canada's national hero, Mike Weir.

"Being a rookie in this event I'm going to want to play with one of the best players in the world, and he's the second best player in the world if you go by rankings and everything else," Austin said of Mickelson. "So if I get my opportunity, I'm going to want to play with the guy that's played the most. He has all of the experience and he knows exactly what to do, and we get along great. So I think our personalities, we're going to have a lot of fun. And then I'm just going to jump on his back and he's going to carry me."

For the American team, Austin and Johnson -- winner of the Masters and AT&T Classic in 2007 -- played their way onto the squad by securing a spot in the top 10 to gain an automatic berth. Mahan, who won for the first time on TOUR in June, and Glover were Jack Nicklaus' captain's selections.

Mahan said the first time he met Nicklaus was when the two played a practice round together at the 2003 Masters. Mahan admitted that after spending some time with the Golden Bear, his personality makes it easy to forget that he's arguably the greatest player to ever play the game.

And that's what made the call from Nicklaus so special to Mahan.

"After the PGA, I think he was going to call some guys and let us know who the picks were going to be so I was expecting the call," recounted Mahan, who will be paired with Steve Stricker to take on Adam Scott and Ogilvy in the first match on Thursday. "So when he called me, it's a pretty neat moment for Jack Nicklaus to call you and tell you you're going to be part of the Presidents Cup team, that's pretty neat for sure. Just to spend a little bit of time with him and just see what a great person he is. He's such a nice guy and he's been so easy on us. He's such a player's captain, he's made it easy on us."

Glover, who pairs up with Scott Verplank on Thursday against Stuart Appleby and Retief Goosen in the fifth match, shared Mahan's sentiment and received the news the same way.

"I was expecting it [a call after the PGA Championship] and did say yes and that was obviously an honor, I didn't take much time to think about the request," Glover said. "And then got here this week and we met in Boston and he went over everything, all of the stuff he had to do. He didn't give us any rah rah, just making sure we know he wants us to have fun but at the same time wants us to be ready to play and try to win the thing."

Motivation shouldn't be hard -- especially with a guy like Austin on the team. The U.S. is without Chris DiMarco this week, the man who knocked in the winning putt for the U.S. two years ago at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. DiMarco was the most spirited player on the U.S. side that year, always providing an emotional spark.

Austin might slip into that role and if he does it certainly won't be unintentional. He's a player who always wears his emotions on his sleeve and -- at least once -- wore them on his forehead after a self-inflicted whack from a naughty putter.

"Everybody gives me grief, but you are who you are," Austin said. "You can't change your stripes, you really can't. You can try and calm things down, but you are who you are. Your makeup there's no way in the world I can ever be Jim Furyk. I can never be that quiet. I can never be that somber so there's no reason for me to even try.

"Now could I possibly not get as angry at myself? Well that's possible to a point to not be as angry but you can't change who you are. I think that's counterproductive. Let's face it, I guess I could look at it from the standpoint of a John McEnroe. Do you think he would have been any good if he had changed? There are a few of us that are just a little bit out there."

The bottom line is Austin is ready to play.

"I can't say I'm not going to be nervous or whatever because that's just a natural occurrence," he admitted. "But like I said, I really can't wait to get out there and play with him [Mickelson] because he is he is my peer; even though I'm older than him, he is my peer in this game and I can't say enough how much of an honor it is for him to be my partner. And I hope to play at his level and help us win."

As for the International rookies, Ogilvy and Sabbatini are both solid. Ogilvy has proven himself in match play having won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2006 and finishing runner up this year to Henrik Stenson.

Sabbatini, while reserved in his press conference on Wednesday, is typically never one to shy away from spicing things up. After Tiger Woods won the Wachovia Championship, topping Sabbatini in the final round, Sabbatini famously commented that Woods looked as beatable as ever. Sabbatini will join fellow South African Trevor Immelman to face Stewart Cink and Johnson in the third match of Thursday's foursomes.

"I'm just here to play golf and let everyone that makes the decisions make their decisions," Sabbatini said. "You know, that's the way it is. I'm just going to go play and if they decide to pair me up against him [Woods], so be it. I'm here to do my job probably as hard as I can and as well as I can, and that's about all I'm focused on."