No More Aquaman, Please

Enough is enough. It’s about time for the world to lighten up on Woody Austin. For years, he has been known to the general public as that crazy guy who got so mad he banged his putter over his head until the shaft was bent. PGA Tour insiders, however, would marvel at how well he hit the ball. In 2007 Austin began to fulfill his potential. After a less-than-inspiring Spring start, it all came together in June when he chased down Adam Scott and demolished a very good field at St. Judes. He did it by firing a sizzling 8 under par 62 in the final round, and this on a very tough par 70 course with only two par fives. The old nervousness seemed to abate and things were never the same after that.

After the inevitable emotional letdown for a couple of weeks, Austin played as normal, except he mixed in a few exceptional performances as well, most notably the 2nd place finish at the PGA Championship, only 2 shots behind Tiger Woods. During that week, he reminded us that along with Mark Calcavecchia and Colin Montgomerie (on a good day), Austin is one of the very best interviews in the game. He was quite blunt about how he is treated by the press in comparison to the Great One. He talked of how when Woods curses or slams his club on the ground he is characterized as “intense” or “sooo competitive”, yet when Austin does the same thing he’s called “temperamental”, “a loose cannon” or “emotional”. And you know what? He was right.

That was all a prelude to his magnificent, clutch performance on the course at the Presidents Cup. His presence was deeply valued by his teammates, who seemed to feed off of his refreshing desire to do whatever it took to win, but all while enjoying - and being humbled by - the experience. And then came the surreal, salmon-catching, face slam into the pond. Of course, everybody had their fun razzing him about it – especially his teammates and partner Phil Mickelson. Austin did his part by playing along because, hell, what else are you going to do? Yessiree, just grin and bear it. But what that did, however, was to partially, if not almost totally, obscure a breakout year for the 43 year old. He’s proven that when the flat stick is under control, he can play with the very best in the world. Most folks don’t even remember that the shot Austin was attempting, the shot that lead to the unfortunate dive, was nearly impossible. He was just hoping to get his ball somewhere near the green, that he might chip in for a halve of the hole. His partner was already in his pocket. And most folks almost certainly don’t recall that Austin dried himself off and proceeded to birdie the last three holes to get a halve of that match for his team.

So I found it a bit more than annoying that television announcer Dan Hicks could rarely manage to refer to Austin during the fun-season Merrill Lynch Shootout without laughingly calling him Aquaman. The man, along with partner Calcavecchia, did manage to win the event. He has made himself into one of the top players in the game, so how about a little respect now. I’m quite sure he’s earned it.