Woody Austin: Dedicated or self serving?

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.