Having gone off nearly an hour before the leaders Sunday, Woody Austin pulled up a chair in the center of the players’ dining room, poured himself a Dr. Pepper, grabbed some popcorn and propped his feet up on that nifty little tournament-record-tying 64 he had just posted.
This is how the cool older gentleman warms up for his playoff. (Spoiler alert: Austin ended up winning the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in extra holes over Wes Short Jr. after they posted 11 under par for three rounds.)
If only someone had a cribbage board or some poker chips, Austin could have completed the look of the country club man at leisure after a very satisfying day skinning his buddy out of a ten-spot.
Stoically he watched the big screen, reacting not at all as his many pursuers peppered the TPC Sugarloaf greens. Heck, when Austin went in the dining room originally, he was more interested in catching the end of the Cleveland-Detroit NBA game, rooting for the Pistons. “I like the underdog,” said the man who worked part time as a credit union teller between 1987-94 while trying to get his golf in order.
Finally, after the Cavs had prevailed and when Wes Short Jr. hit his third shot to the par 5 18th to within six feet, needing that birdie to win, Austin stirred.
“I’m going to go change my shoes. He’ll make that one,” he said, on the way to the locker room.
No, Short didn’t make that one. And without having swung a club in better than an hour, Austin hustled his 52-year-old body out to the 18th tee for another kind of 19th hole. This one counted, with the winner poised to make $270,000 and the loser about $120,000 less.
And sure enough, his first swing did partially resemble the opening of a rusty gate, his drive wandering into the right rough. No matter, Short’s drive was farther awry, to the left. Both men laid up for par.
Back to the tee for another try. Short once more went left, only this time his ball cozied up to a tree. In trying to merely steer it back to the fairway, Short hit his second shot low and into a steep incline that threw the ball back into the trash on the left. He did well to bogey from there.
Riding his center-cut drive to a routine lay-up par, Austin claimed his second Champions Tour victory in a month and rose to second on the Tour’s money list.
It all turned out just fine, unless you’re Wes Short Jr. “I hate giving it to him on a par 5 with a par. It sucks,” he said.
While not recommending the popcorn-and-Dr.-Pepper preparation plan, Austin said it did perfectly suit his unique approach to the game.
“I’m not a normal person when it comes to golf,” he said.
First of all, Austin didn’t warm up because he really didn’t believe he was going to be involved in a playoff. He had begun Sunday four back of Short’s lead, 15 players in front of him. Even with the 64 in his pocket, he thought Short would not be caught.
And then there’s the aversion to the practice range that has defined his Champions Tour approach.
“This to me is my retirement,” he said. “I don’t want to go to the range and hit a ton of balls. I’m not about to try and act like I’m 25 years old and go hit balls for three hours a day.”
Yes, he is a little different. Austin’s career asterisk dates to 2013, when at 49 he became the eighth oldest man to win on the PGA Tour (Sanderson Farms, in Jackson, Miss.). He also stars in a couple classic golf moments. (Google: Austin, 2007 Presidents Cup. And watch the video of him trying to hit a shot out of a pond. The result was a wet face-plant and the nickname Aquaman).
And as if on cue Sunday, the TVs in the interview room, tuned to the Golf Channel, showed a 1997 replay of Austin beating himself over the head with the shaft of his putter, until it was severely bent (the putter, not his head). In mild disgust, Austin said, “That’s 20 years ago. What relevance does that have to today?”
There was nothing eccentric about the golf Austin played Sunday, his bogey-free 64 flawless in execution. He treated this putter very kindly Sunday and it in turn treated him well. When he needed 25-foot birdie putts on Nos. 5 and 15, it was there for him.
Aside from Austin and Short, the only player to experience a lead Sunday was Atlanta’s Billy Andrade.
Andrade’s day had multiple textures. Satiny smooth on the front nine — a string of five birdies in six holes, which sandwiched a par save from the water, awarding him a share of the lead at the turn.
A birdie on No. 10, and Andrade was 10 under and in sole first. The Atlanta guy was in great position to win Atlanta’s over-50, active adult living professional championship.
And then, without warning, his scorecard developed the only potholes you’ll find in this neighborhood. Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12. And this field was not in a mood to wait for him to make repairs. He ended up shooting 69, and tied for eighth.
Austin witnessed it all in absolute comfort.
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