TOUR Insider: Austin hopes Memphis cures him again

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Woody Austin wasn't feeling particularly good about his game heading into last year's Stanford St. Jude Championship. But he made a swing adjustment at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley, got a few putts to fall, and found himself the winner of his third PGA TOUR title at the end of the week.

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Woody Austin gave credit to his putter for his win last year in Memphis.

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Video: Austin wins in 2007

He's hoping for a similar turn of good fortune this week as defending champion of the Memphis area event that celebrates its 50th anniversary and which also is realizing another milestone with its 20th playing at well-regarded TPC Southwind.

"I don't know if lightning can strike twice in the same place, but I feel like I'm in the same place," said Austin, 44, who is coming off a disappointing showing at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where he closed with an 84 to end up tied for 73rd. "I'm actually playing pretty well right now. I'm just not getting anything out of the good rounds I've put out there.

"I'm one foot on the wrong side every time. If I make a mistake, it's magnified. If I play well, I don't get rewarded. Every round I feel like I'm shooting 4-5 shots higher than what I think I should be shooting."

As always, Austin said, any turnaround has to begin with his putter. "Putting was the key to my whole year last year," he said. "I've sort of slipped back again."

Indeed, Austin finished the 2007 season ranked 49th with a 1.777 average per green in regulation, and his efforts at TPC Southwind were abetted by a strong putting performance combined with finishing second for the week in greens in regulation. This year, he is 132nd at 1.815, a drop of 21 places in just the last week after struggling on the icy-slick greens at Muirfield Village.

If Austin, who has two top 10s this year, takes any positives out of Memorial, where he ended up 19-over par for the week, it's the fact that he birdied the final two holes Friday to make the cut.

"I'm still grinding," he said with a smile. "I just hope I'm having to grind next week. The setup was tough last year, and I think that was a good way to see that course. You always want to see it challenging."

TPC Southwind, 7,239 yards, par 70, underwent a renovation in 2005, and it was a firm, fast layout for last year's event. Austin shot 13-under 267 and won by five strokes over Brian Davis.

FEDEXCUP POINTERS

• Charles Howell III, who just a week ago finished tied for eighth at the AT&T Classic (though he held the 54-hole lead), employed a new caddie at the Memorial, having parted ways with longtime teammate Jimmy Johnston.

• John Daly is playing this week on a sponsor's exemption after competing abroad for a stretch. It's his first U.S. start since the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Daly used to have a home in Memphis, and his best finish at TPC Sourthwind is a tie for fifth in 2001. Daly and Shaun Micheel are the only two players in the field with local ties.

• Some of the other sponsors' exemptions were awarded to three former champions -- Notah Begay III (2000), Len Mattiace (2002) and Larry Mize (1983).

• Corey Pavin returns to Memphis for the first time since 1990, when he tied for 71st at 4-over par. Another veteran back for another run at TPC Southwind is Davis Love III, who is making just his third appearance since 1999. He tied for 10th that year and tied for fourth in 2005.

• Fifty players who competed in the Memorial Tournament were slated to tee it up in the 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifiers played at two Columbus courses, while another 15, including freshly minted Senior PGA champion Jay Haas also were headed to Ohio for the qualifier. Meanwhile, Matthew Goggin was among 39 others who were heading to Tennessee early for the Open sectional there. Most significantly, there were 17 players who were squeezing in a qualifier between starts at both Memorial and Stanford St. Jude Championship.

• John Merrick will have a new putter this week. He went through two at the Memorial Tournament, giving one away after his first round, and adjusting the configuration, accidentally, of another during his second round.

• Steve Flesch put a 64-degree Cleveland wedge in his bag for last week's Memorial Tournament to contend with the furrowed bunkers and also for venues with thicker rough -- like, say, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.