Albert Woody Austin II (born January 27, 1964) is an American professional golfer who played the majority of his career on the PGA Tour. He now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.
Early life and amateur career 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. He attended the University of Miami, where he was a member of the golf team and graduated in 1986 with a degree in business administration.
Professional career In 1986, Austin turned professional. He 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.
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". During his singles match against 2007 U.S. Open Champion Ángel Cabrera, he wore a pair of swimming goggles.
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.
Personal life Austin lives in Derby, Kansas.
Awards and honors In 2008, Austin was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame
Professional wins (10) PGA Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 6, 1995Buick Open−18 (63-68-72-67=270)Playoff Mike Brisky2Aug 29, 2004Buick Championship−10 (68-70-66-66=270)Playoff Tim Herron3Jun 10, 2007Stanford St. Jude Championship−13 (72-66-67-62=267)5 strokes Brian Davis4Jul 21, 2013Sanderson Farms Championship−20 (69-65-67-67=268)Playoff Cameron Beckman, Daniel Summerhays
PGA Tour playoff record (3–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11995Buick Open Mike BriskyWon with par on second extra hole22003MCI Heritage Davis Love IIILost to birdie on fourth extra hole32004Buick Championship Tim HerronWon with birdie on first extra hole42013Sanderson Farms Championship Cameron Beckman, Daniel Summerhays Won with birdie on first extra hole
Other wins (2) 1993 Waterloo Open Golf Classic 2007 Merrill Lynch Shootout (with Mark Calcavecchia)
PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Legend Charles Schwab Cup playoff events (1) Other PGA Tour Champions (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Mar 20, 2016Tucson Conquistadores Classic−16 (65-70-65=200)1 stroke Jim Carter2Apr 17, 2016Mitsubishi Electric Classic−11 (72-69-64=205)Playoff Wes Short Jr.3Apr 24, 2016Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf(with Michael Allen)−23 (49-59-48=156)1 stroke Roger Chapman and David Frost4Oct 21, 2018Dominion Energy Charity Classic−11 (68-68-69=205)1 stroke Bernhard Langer
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12016Mitsubishi Electric Classic Wes Short Jr.Won with par on second extra hole22016Boeing Classic Bernhard Langer, Kevin SutherlandLanger won with birdie on first extra hole32019Hoag Classic Kirk Triplett Lost to eagle on second extra hole
Other senior wins (1) 2017 Diamond Resorts Invitational
Playoff record Nike Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult11998Nike Permian Basin Open Jeff Barlow, Stiles MitchellMitchell won with par on first extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament19951996199719981999Masters TournamentCUTU.S. OpenT23The Open ChampionshipCUTPGA ChampionshipT23T69
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentCUTU.S. OpenT37CUTT48T32CUTT71The Open ChampionshipT39PGA ChampionshipT27T62T66T162CUTT36 Tournament2010201120122013Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 5The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1PGA Championship 0 1 0 1 1 3 10 8Totals 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 Tournament1996199719981999The Players ChampionshipT67CUT Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipT61CUTCUTT16CUT73CUTT21T22 Tournament20102011201220132014The Players ChampionshipT56CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament20052006200720082009Match PlayQFChampionshipT44InvitationalT36T56T52T15
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied
Results in senior major championships Results not in chronological order. Tournament2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Senior PGA Championship3T64CUTT3311NTT11T29CUTT57T46CUTThe TraditionT29T47T16NTT15T45T28T75T46T54U.S. Senior OpenT3T26T24CUTCUTT11NTT28CUTT57CUTCUTCUTSenior Players ChampionshipT26T25T4613T7T5T58T5T27T7070Senior British Open ChampionshipT5T23T15T12T7NTT28T47CUT
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 Presidents Cup: 2007 (winners)
See also 1994 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates 1998 Nike Tour graduates 2002 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links
University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame