LPGA eTour
WIN Free golf lessons with Butch Harmon!
Win a free golf book!

Woody Austin: Dedicated or self serving?

Saturday September 29, 2007 | 12:14:24 244 words, 1216 views  

MONTREAL - Woody Austin’s little swim in the lateral water hazard on No. 14 Friday was the talk of the Presidents Cup. It did make for hilarious viewing, on a day when there was little to smile about if you were an American golf fan.

But to me, it smacked a little too much like unneeded showmanship. Austin played it off as an example of his dedication.

“There’s no one out here who wants to be here as badly as me,” he told the media later that afternoon.

Fine. But.

“They idea was to get it to the bank. if I could get it to the bank I could make 3.”

If he holed out.

Taking a drop would have been the smarter play, leaving Austin two in the fairway with an easy approach - a very makable up-and-down. Everyone on the golf course new that.

Austin likes attention, and this was a great way to insure that he made the first reel of Sportscenter. The papers here in Montreal today are all running sequential shots of his swan dive on the front page.

I’d condemn the whole thing as needless attention-grabbing - if Austin hadn’t gone on to show us what he really can do, birdieing the last three holes to help him and teammate David Toms scratch out a half point against Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman.

Austin, a career journeyman if there every was one, can play. He shouldn’t resort to stunts to remind us that.

Permalink 1 comment

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: ronmon [Visitor] · http://mon
1. You knucklehead!

2. They do make those shots. Have you seen the chip-ins? The sand-ins? The wedge-ins? You don't make them. I don't make them. They make them!
PermalinkPermalink 2007-09-29 @ 19:29

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be displayed on this site.
Your URL will be displayed.

Allowed XHTML tags: <p, ul, ol, li, dl, dt, dd, address, blockquote, ins, del, span, bdo, br, em, strong, dfn, code, samp, kdb, var, cite, abbr, acronym, q, sub, sup, tt, i, b, big, small>. Bloggers reserve the right to edit or delete comments. Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management.
(Line breaks become <br />)
(Set cookies for name, email and url)
(Allow users to contact you through a message form (your email will NOT be displayed.))
Grass is green. What color is grass?

Jeff White Jeff White

by J.B. White

WorldGolf.com's Jeff White is based in Berlin, Germany, and writes on all matters of golf and travel, with a particular emphasis on the European golf scene, keeping you informed about what's happening on and off the golf course.

Add to:

Jeff White Add to Google Subscribe in NewsGator Online Subscribe in Bloglines Add to My AOL

My feeds

Archives