As comfortable as can be at Warwick Hills, Austin shoots 65  Special to PGATOUR.com GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- When it comes to comfort zone, Woody Austin cruises around Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club like he's driving an old, classic automobile off a Detroit assembly line. He knows the open road and he knows how to navigate all the turns.  Woody Austin always seems to be in contention at the Buick Open. (WireImage)
Austin won the Buick Open in his first appearance in 1995 and he's been in contention regularly ever since. On Thursday, he grabbed a share of the early lead with a 7-under-par 65 in perfect scoring conditions to tie Brett Quigley, before Rocco Mediate shot an 8-under-par 64 for a one-shot advantage later in the day. Jim Furyk, ranked No. 3 in the world, was two shots behind with 66. When Austin won in 1995, among his prizes was a 1996 Buick Riviera. He still has the car -- it has 37,000 miles and it's pristine. The goal this week for Austin on one of his favorite courses is to add to his motor stable with Buick's new crossover, the Enclave. Austin had seven birdies in a bogey-free round. It was his fifth straight sub-60 round at the Buick Open, where he tied for seventh last year. In all, he has four top nines at the Buick Open, where he is eighth on the tournament's career money list with $703,729. Austin called his 65 -- the same score he posted last year in the first round -- "as clean and as simple as I could have imagined. "I missed one green, and it was by about a foot on No. 8," he said. "I never had to chip, never had to scramble. The only other time I was in trouble, I hit a bad drive on No. 2, but I hit an awesome shot to 18 feet. "I was never under the gun too much. I put the ball where I had to put it. I never had any difficult downhill sliders or crazy putts, and I made some." Austin's affection for old, traditional courses runs deep. Warwick Hills has no blind shots, nothing goofy, and plenty of options on how to play shots. "I think what agrees with me about the golf course is that it's not hard or long, but it's tree-lined enough," he said. "I like the old golf courses. I like the golf course that tells me how to play, because I'm not ever going to overpower a golf course. "And I know that the young guys can overpower this golf course, so it gives up so many low rounds. I'm not stuck having to carry a bunker that I can't carry while they're knocking it even 50 yards farther than that, because I can shape the ball on this golf course." Austin is having a very fine year. He won the Stanford St. Jude Championship earlier this month. He's No. 34 on the FedExCup points list (5,526 points) and No. 32 on the official money list ($1.32 million).
Austin opened last week's Travelers Championship with 66 before faltering and finishing tied for 43rd. The greens at Warwick Hills have a reputation as some of the best on the PGA TOUR. They're large and always very smooth. This week they've been softened by rain so approach shots are being fired at pins. "For some reason, this is one tournament I seem to make putts," Austin said. "You have to make putts to shoot low scores, and I've shot a few low scores here. I haven't finished real high the last several years but I've always played some good rounds, now I just need to string three more together so it's an actual good week instead of just a good day today." |
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