Albert Woody Austin II (born January 27, 1964) is an American professional golfer who played the majority of his career on the PGA Tour, but now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.
| Woody Austin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Albert Woody Austin II | ||
| Nickname | Aquaman | ||
| Born | January 27, 1964 Tampa, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 14 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||
| Residence | Derby, Kansas, U.S. | ||
| Career | |||
| College | University of Miami | ||
| Turned professional | 1986 | ||
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions | ||
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 11 | ||
| Highest ranking | 29 (October 28, 2007)[1] | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 4 | ||
| PGA Tour Champions | 4 | ||
| Other | 3 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | CUT: 1996, 2008 | ||
| PGA Championship | 2nd: 2007 | ||
| U.S. Open | T23: 1996 | ||
| The Open Championship | T39: 2008 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Austin was born in Tampa, Florida and attended George D. Chamberlain High School where he graduated in 1982 and was awarded best golf player in the conference.[2] He attended the University of Miami, where he was a member of the golf team coached by Norman C. Parsons Jr. He graduated in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration and turned professional later that year.
Austin won PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors in 1995. He has won four times on tour: the 1995 Buick Open, the 2004 Buick Championship, the 2007 Stanford St. Jude Championship shooting a final round 62, and the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship (where he became the 8th oldest winner in Tour history, just younger than Raymond Floyd).
During the 1997 Verizon Heritage, Austin intentionally struck his head with his putter five times. He hit his head so hard that the shaft bent.[3]
After the second round of the 2007 PGA Championship, Austin joked that he was named after actor Woody Harrelson (Harrelson being only three years older than Austin). He went on to finish 2nd behind Tiger Woods, his best major finish. This achievement moved Austin into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. Austin's career high ranking was 29th in 2008. During the 2007 Presidents Cup, Austin fell into a pond while attempting to hit a shot with one foot in the water. This incident led to Woody's nickname "Aquaman".[4] During his singles match against 2007 U.S. Open Champion Ángel Cabrera, he wore a pair of swimming goggles.[3]
After struggling for years with limited PGA Tour status as a past champion, Austin won the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship, his first PGA Tour win in six years. In that season's PGA Championship, Austin was given a four-stroke penalty for having fifteen clubs in his bag; he would miss the cut by one stroke. Although Austin didn't do well enough to earn entry into the FedEx Cup (137th after making two cuts in eight events, plus the win was an alternate event only worth 300 FedEx Cup points rather than 500), his win earned him a tour card through 2015. Despite his exemption, Austin decided to focus on the PGA Tour Champions.
In March 2016, Austin won his maiden title on the PGA Tour Champions with a one stroke victory at the Tucson Conquistadores Classic; he followed that victory up with two additional PGA Tour Champions wins in 2016. On October 21, 2018, Austin won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. Austin closed with a three-under-par 69 on a cool day to record his fourth senior victory, but first since 2016. The tournament was held at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.[5]
Austin was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame at its 40th Annual Banquet held February 13, 2008 at Miami's Jungle Island. He resides in Derby, Kansas.
Professional wins (10)
editPGA Tour wins (4)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 6, 1995 | Buick Open | −18 (63-68-72-67=270) | Playoff |  Mike Brisky
|
| 2 | Aug 29, 2004 | Buick Championship | −10 (68-70-66-66=270) | Playoff | Tim Herron
|
| 3 | Jun 10, 2007 | Stanford St. Jude Championship | −13 (72-66-67-62=267) | 5 strokes |  Brian Davis
|
| 4 | Jul 21, 2013 | Sanderson Farms Championship | −20 (69-65-67-67=268) | Playoff | Cameron Beckman, Daniel Summerhays
|
PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1995 | Buick Open | Mike Brisky
|
Won with par on second extra hole |
| 2 | 2003 | MCI Heritage | Davis Love III
|
Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole |
| 3 | 2004 | Buick Championship | Tim Herron
|
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 4 | 2013 | Sanderson Farms Championship | Cameron Beckman, Daniel Summerhays
|
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Other wins (2)
edit- 1993 Waterloo Open Golf Classic
- 2007 Merrill Lynch Shootout (with Mark Calcavecchia)
PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| Charles Schwab Cup playoff events (1) |
| Other PGA Tour Champions (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 20, 2016 | Tucson Conquistadores Classic | −16 (65-70-65=200) | 1 stroke | Jim Carter
|
| 2 | Apr 17, 2016 | Mitsubishi Electric Classic | −11 (72-69-64=205) | Playoff | Wes Short Jr.
|
| 3 | Apr 24, 2016 | Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (with Michael Allen)
|
−23 (49-59-48=156) | 1 stroke | Roger Chapman and  David Frost
|
| 4 | Oct 21, 2018 | Dominion Energy Charity Classic | −11 (68-68-69=205) | 1 stroke |  Bernhard Langer
|
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | Mitsubishi Electric Classic | Wes Short Jr.
|
Won with par on second extra hole |
| 2 | 2016 | Boeing Classic | Bernhard Langer, Kevin Sutherland
|
Langer won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 2019 | Hoag Classic | Kirk Triplett
|
Lost to eagle on second extra hole |
Other senior wins (1)
editPlayoff record
editNike Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998 | Nike Permian Basin Open | Jeff Barlow, Stiles Mitchell
|
Mitchell won with par on first extra hole |
Results in major championships
edit| Tournament | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | ||||
| U.S. Open | T23 | ||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | ||||
| PGA Championship | T23 | T69 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | T37 | CUT | T48 | T32 | CUT | T71 | ||||
| The Open Championship | T39 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | T27 | T62 | T66 | T16 | 2 | CUT | T36 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||||
| U.S. Open | ||||
| The Open Championship | ||||
| PGA Championship | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary
edit| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 14 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2003 U.S. Open – 2006 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Results in The Players Championship
edit| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T67 | CUT |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T61 | CUT | CUT | T16 | CUT | 73 | CUT | T21 | T22 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T56 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
edit| Tournament | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | QF | ||||
| Championship | T44 | ||||
| Invitational | T36 | T56 | T52 | T15 |
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Results in senior major championships
editResults not in chronological order before 2022.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Tradition | T29 | T47 | T16 | NT | T15 | T45 | T28 | T75 | |||
| Senior PGA Championship | 3 | T64 | CUT | T33 | 11 | NT | T11 | T29 | CUT | T57 | |
| U.S. Senior Open | T3 | T26 | T24 | CUT | CUT | T11 | NT | T28 | CUT | T57 | CUT |
| Senior Players Championship | T26 | T25 | T46 | 13 | T7 | T5 | T58 | T5 | T27 | ||
| Senior British Open Championship | T5 | T23 | T15 | T12 | T7 | NT | T28 | T47 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
U.S. national team appearances
edit- Presidents Cup: 2007 (winners)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Week 43 2007 Ending 28 Oct 2007" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ Chamberlain High School Totem Yearbook. 1982. p. 87.
- ^ a b "Summer of Woody: Austin becomes household name in span of weeks". PGA Tour. October 3, 2007. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009.
- ^ Auclair, T.J. (September 29, 2007). "Austin takes a highlight-reel dive, then rallies his team". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on August 16, 2009.
- ^ Strege, John (October 21, 2018). "Woody Austin wins Dominion Energy Charity Classic, spoils Jay Haas' bid to become oldest senior winner". Golf Digest. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
External links
edit- Woody Austin at the PGA Tour official site
- Woody Austin at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame