Austin hopes to build on '07 success
By Dave Shedloski, PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Rain was pelting the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort Monday afternoon, leaving tributaries of raging waters as the only traffic on the hilly fairways of this idyllic golf playground.
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The first official day of practice for the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship was a near washout. Boo Weekley tried to play a few holes amid the deluge. Jim Furyk ventured out to the practice putting green when precipitation dissipated.
Woody Austin wanted no part of the outdoors. He'd seen enough water in the 2007 calendar year.
Austin is the man who, ahem, plunged into golfing notoriety in September when he fell face-first into a greenside water hazard at Royal Montreal Golf Club during the seventh Presidents Cup. America ran away with its fifth victory against the International Team, and Austin, a rookie in team match-play competition, was one of the catalysts with his gritty play and good-natured acceptance of his new identity -- Aquaman.
Austin has been more than willing to play along with all the jokes on him; he donned a set of goggles during his Sunday singles match when he arrived at Royal Montreal's 14th hole -- the scene of the slime two days earlier in a four-ball match in which he and David Toms rallied for a halve against Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini.
They earned a half-point because Austin dried himself off, bucked up and birdied the last three holes.
Earlier in the year Austin won the Stanford St. Jude Championship, his third PGA TOUR title, which earned him a trip to this week's exclusive tournament of champions. His off-season included his first Challenge Season start at the Merrill Lynch Shootout, where he teamed with Mark Calcavecchia to take the title. The only other noteworthy occurrence was the reoccurrence of his Presidents Cup swan dive on various highlight programs.
"I finally got in a silly season event. That's my first one in 13 years, so I finally got to play," Austin, who turns 44 later this month, says. "That was nice. Even though it was one week, at least I got to play golf for one week. ... At least I'm not here after two and a half months of nothing; at least I had a week in there where I did something."
Asked if his phone rang a little more at his home in Derby, Kan., because of his growing fame, Austin shrugged. "Not really. I guess the only thing is more references to the water incident. That's about it. As far as anything else golf related or whatever, no, just more of the splash."
Austin understands. It's a rare Keystone Cops moment he authored by happenstance, and it's now part of his identity. But press him on the issue and he'll tell you he'd be happy if all the fuss dried up and went away.
"You know, I'm a golfer. I want to be known for golf," Austin says. "I don't want to be known for water exploits. I talked to Rolf (broadcaster Mark Rolfing) on Golf Hawaii, and we were figuring out if I walked out and talked to 10 people how many people would know that I birdied the last three holes to halve that match. That's what you want to be known for. I got up, I dried off, and I birdied three holes in a row for a halve. All they know is I dunked my head in the water."
What many probably don't realize either is that Austin moved towards the head of the class in '07, finishing 15th on the money list with a career-high $2,887,596 and a runner-up finish to Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship. He ended up 17th in the inaugural FedExCup competition.
Austin was pleased with his play, but far from satisfied. He calls himself an underachiever and he gauges his success by consistency, which eluded him until things began to click at the Memorial Tournament, where he tied for 45th but made some swing adjustments. He won the following week, and added runner-up finishes at the Buick Open and PGA.
"I played two really good tournaments. If you look from the year, you've got to look at it, everybody keeps saying, you had a good year. No, I didn't. I had a good month and a half, two months. If you look at the whole year, the start of the year I played terrible until I got my game back."
Austin might think of himself as an underachiever, but he's aced the school of hard knocks, having had his career derailed by a knee injury after college and then being forced to build a golf game while holding down jobs as a bank teller and bartender. He would not be in Maui today were it not for a clutch victory at the -- how about this for irony? -- Waterloo Open, a tournament on the barbecue circuit that he played with his pockets full of lint and not much else. Austin had won $1,200 in a mini-tour event in Orlando, and that was to be his expense money to compete on the Dakotas Tour in 1993. But that check bounced. He had to borrow $300 from his traveling companion, former PGA TOUR player Doug Dunakey, to enter the Waterloo Open.
"I was completely broke," says Austin, who had taken out a $2,000 loan from the bank where he worked to pay the Dakotas Tour entry fees and stood to see that go to waste if he couldn't make some quick cash.
Austin collected $10,000 for the mini-tour victory. "I still have the cardboard check," he says proudly.
He also won the first stop on the Dakotas Tour. He was on his way, albeit behind schedule. That's why Austin is feeling a sense of urgency to accomplish more -- and to be known for a good follow through as well as a backstroke.
"I want to continue to show that I am capable of playing at the level I know I am. I still don't think I've reached where ... it's sad that I'm starting to show how good I am at the end of my career as opposed to maybe in my prime or whatever. But I still know that there's a lot more that I can accomplish, it's just a matter of whether or not I can do it as my body starts to wear down."
If nothing else, he's already shown how he can pick himself up.
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