After grinding his way to four wins in his 20-year PGA Tour career, Woody Austin had mixed feelings about turning 50 and joining the Champions Tour.
Austin scored his final victory at the age of 49 in 2013, extending his PGA Tour career for a few years while delaying his decision to join the Champions Tour full time.
Playing part time on the Champions Tour the last two years, Austin was a frequent contender with 16 top-10 finishes in 25 starts.
With his PGA Tour exempt status expired, Austin is a full time Champions Tour player for the first time this year, and has stepped up as a potential challenger to Bernhard Langer’s long reign as the top player among the over-50 set.
Austin scored his second win in three tournaments in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, firing a final round 64 to get into a playoff at 11-under 205 with second-round leader Wes Short. Austin won when Short made bogey on the second extra hole.
Both of Austin’s Champions Tour victories came in come-from-behind fashion. He came from three shots back in Tucson thanks to a final round 65, and was also three off the pace coming to the final round at Sugarloaf before tying the tournament record.
Austin has long been known as a first rate ball striker but a suspect putter, with his success during his PGA Tour career usually occurring when he managed to get some putts to fall. He holed his share of putts in the final round at Sugarloaf, rolling in a 25-footer for birdie on the tough fifth hole and holing a 20-footer and a pair of putts in the 10-foot range on the back nine. A shorter birdie putt at the 17th gave him the lead before Short pulled even with a birdie at 16.
Short, who won once in his brief stay on the PGA Tour and has added a Champions Tour title to his resume, had a 6-footer for a winning birdie at 18 in regulation but missed. He hit two errant tee shots on 18 in the playoff, salvaging par the first time but taking two shots to get back to the fairway on the second extra hole for a bogey.
Austin won the playoff with a pair of pars, earning first place money of $270,000. He is the first Champions Tour player with two wins this year, but still trails Langer on the money list thanks to middling finishes in his other three starts.
In his two tournament wins, Austin has shot 65 and 64 the final round. In his other three starts, Austin’s final round average is over 75, a reflection on both his frequent putting woes as well as some motivation issues.
Austin spent the hour or so between when he finished and when Short missed a putt to win on the 18th in the player’s locker room, watching the conclusion of an NBA playoff game as well as keeping his eye on Short.
“I’m not a range guy,” says Austin, who did not a hit a ball prior to the playoff. “I’m not a normal person when it comes to golf.”
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Austin was in no rush to join the Champions Tour as he neared his 50th birthday.
“The competitor in me did not want to come out here. This, to me, is my retirement. This is supposed to be fun. I figured since I stayed competitive at 50, I should be able to make the transition to the Champions Tour. I’ve kept my ball striking up enough – I’m still in the upper echelon – so if I can get the ball in the hole, I can be around the lead a lot.”
Austin needed an eagle at the 18th to shoot even par 72 in the opening round, finishing the day four behind co-leaders Mark O’Meara, Tom Byrum and Tom Watson, who was coming off his farewell appearance in the Masters.
A 69 on Saturday left Austin four behind Short, with 15 players in front of him with 18 holes to play. Austin made his move with four straight birdies on the opening nine starting at the third, but was still two behind Short after a birdie at the 10th, his third of the day on a par 5.
Birdies at holes 4, 6 and 7 kept Short in control, but he lost his lead when he bogeyed the difficult par-4 ninth while Atlanta resident Billy Andrade was making birdie at the 10th, his sixth in eight holes. Bogeys at 11 and 12 cost Andrade the lead and dropped him out of contention, with Short reclaiming his lead with a birdie at the 11th.
Austin began another birdie streak with a quick, downhill 20-footer at the 15th followed by a 12-footer at 16. He hit his approach within three feet to a tough pin to reach on 17 for his eighth birdie of the day and the solo lead before Short pulled even with a birdie at 16. A closing 68 by Short was not enough to hold off Austin’s Sunday surge.
The only other person who had a chance to make it a three-way playoff was Paul Goydos, who shot a final round 67 but lipped out a birdie try on 18 and placed third at 10-under 206.
Tying for fourth at 207 were Joey Sindelar and Tom Lehman, who shot 67 on Sunday, along with 2014 tournament winner Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Colin Montgomerie (69).
Andrade finished eighth at 208 after an adventurous final round 69 that included seven birdies, four bogeys, two balls in hazards and one tee shot out of bounds.
After scores of 70 and 69, Andrade began the final round two behind Short, but made bogey on the opening hole after punching his approach under tree limbs into a greenside bunker and missing his par attempt.
Andrade didn’t miss much the rest of the day, carding six birdies in eight holes beginning at the third along with a terrific par save after pulling his tee shot on the par-5 fourth into the creek that winds along the left side of the fairway.
A slick, downhill 8-footer at the third started Andrade’s stretch of torrid putting, and he followed with a 15-footer for par at 4 and a 20-footer for birdie at 5. He reached the par-5 sixth in two for a third birdie on the opening nine, and concluded his run of four in a row with putts of 12 feet at the seventh and 25 feet at the long, par-3 eighth.
Andrade took the outright lead when he rolled in a 15-footer at the 10th, but was the first player in his group to tee off on the perilous par-3 11th and misjudged the wind. His tee shot carrying across the green and into the pond on the other side of the cart path. He got up and down to save bogey, but took another bogey at the 12th, missing the green and hitting a weak chip following a poor tee shot.
After driving into the greenside bunker at the drivable par-4 13th, Andrade had a chance for a birdie that would have gotten him back in the hunt, but missed from inside 10 feet.
Needing to finish birdie-eagle to get into a playoff, Andrade’s tee shot on the 17th sailed out of bounds. He managed a “birdie” on his second ball after driving into a fairway bunker, holing a long bogey putt from across the green. He recorded his seventh birdie of the day at 18, narrowly missing his eagle attempt after a beautiful second shot.
“Overall, it was a nice week,” said Andrade, who had not enjoyed much success at Sugarloaf when it hosted a PGA Tour event or in his previous Champions Tour appearances. “If I had not made so many mistakes today, I would have had a chance.
“I had a chance with nine holes to go, and that’s all I wanted to do this week. I think I can build on this and it’s a sign I have some good play ahead.”
Duluth resident Scott Dunlap, who came into the tournament fourth on the money list, shot a final round 66 and tied for 20th at 3-under 213.
Augusta’s Scott Parel shot 65 in a Monday qualifier at Country Club of the South to finish second, making him 5-for-5 in pre-tournament qualifiers this year. Parel shot 73-73-71—217 and tied for 41st in the tournament.
For the first time since the Champions Tour came to Duluth in 2013, the tournament was not hampered by rain, with no weather problems all week and the final round played in sunny, slightly breezy conditions.