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BUICK CHAMPIONSHIP


August 23, 2005


Woody Austin


CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome defending champion, Woody Austin, to the 2005 Buick Championship. Woody last year, a victory here, a big one for you, your first in nine years on the tour. Talk about what that did for you from there on and here, today confidence wise.

WOODY AUSTIN: Well, it's a late validation, but any time you win it's a validation for why you're out here. To have a nine year span in there is kind of a long time. It just gives you validation that, you know, your hard work and that your persistence is paying off and you're not just busting your butt for nothing. In any sport or any endeavor, there's those select few where things kind of go your way, and there's the rest of us it seems like have to wear ourselves completely thin before we get to reap the rewards that for them, they seem to just happen all the time. It's just nice that it did happen again, and it gives me a free year this year, which is always nice to set your schedule up, because now I have both of my boys are in school, so it allows me the freedom to do things with them. I think that's the most important as I get older, to have that freedom to spend more time with my kids and they won't be able to travel anymore.

TODD BUDNICK: Talk about the benefits of the victory, playing in the NEC last week for the first time.

WOODY AUSTIN: That was my first World Golf Championship event; it was nice to actually be involved in one of those. Again, it's one of those things that's really hard to get into. The way the World Ranking system works, it's easier for not saying it's bad, but it's just easier for a foreigner to get in that event than it is for one of us regular American players. I think, if I remember correctly, there was more foreign players that played in it last week than there were Americans. So it's just a tough tournament to get into. So it was last least nice that they allowed a tournament win to get in this year, so that was cool.

TODD BUDNICK: Your season so far, you've made a lot of cuts, one Top 10, four Top 25s; can you assess where you are at this point?

WOODY AUSTIN: It's just been a bad year, just haven't played good. Started out the year bad and it just hasn't gotten any better. It's hard to say, really, other than the fact that it's just nothing has been really good. I haven't been able to get on any kind of a good roll or good run because nothing has been good. I've only played one good round of golf, and that was the Sunday at New Orleans where I did finish fifth. That's the only round I played where I had not made a bogey in a round. I hear about guys going the whole week without making any; I'm making three or four a day. It just not been a good year.

Like I said, at least I have the freedom; so I am grinding my butt off, but I'm not killing myself at the same time because at least know I am out here.

Q. Would you agree most guys are extremely close, is there a like a psychological part, an advantage coming back here after last year?

WOODY AUSTIN: Well, I'd like to think so, because I've always said that on this stage where we're at now, the mental ability is most important. If you ask most guys, that's true. That's why Nicklaus was so good; that's why Tiger is so good. That's why those guys, they have that they not only have the physical makeup, but they have the mental makeup that matches.

And I've always said all along, I've got as much talent as anybody. I can hit any shot, but I've got a two cent brain. I don't have the mental I just wasn't given that mental ability to play this game as well as my physical part, and that's always held me back. But I'm not afraid to admit it. Some guys are afraid to admit it, but I'm not afraid to admit it.

Any time you're in an area that's positive, obviously, it's going to benefit you. Obviously I'm going to take as many positives from last year as I can and hope I get a little lucky again.

Q. A lot of people relate to you and like you, do you find that, more and more?

WOODY AUSTIN: I don't know if I find it more and more. Like I said I'm not going to lie to you and I'm not going to give you any political rants which seems to be the pro quo, to give you the political speech. Like I've always said, I'm no different than any other person. I play golf; okay, good for me. But that doesn't make me a better person than anybody else. Everybody else is equal as far as I'm concerned. You work just as hard at your job as I work at mine. So should I be better than you if I make a little bit more money? No. And unfortunately for me, I feel like there's, you know, some people out here that think just because they are good at it that they are up here and everybody else is down here, and it just doesn't make any sense.

So I hope that people understand that they can always come up and talk to me, because if I shun you, I'm sorry, it might be one of those bad days, but I'm not trying to ever shun anybody. I'll talk to anybody.

Q. Have you made any changes to your game?

WOODY AUSTIN: Nothing drastic until the last three weeks. Not too many people know, but I lost my dad Friday before the PGA. So this has not been a good 2 1/2 weeks for me. I was gearing up, I was taking the week off before the PGA and just trying to rest and get ready for the PGA and I got the call Friday morning that my dad had passed away. So I didn't get to prepare at all for the PGA.

It was more of just a shock of losing someone that he's the one who taught me the game well, he didn't really teach me the game, but he got me started in the game. I know he wanted me to play, so I went ahead and played, but there was no preparation, no practice or anything. It's just been the last couple of weeks has just kind of been, I guess, like a robot kind of going along.

If my game would have been leading up to it, it would have been okay, but my game was pretty bad. I just feel like it's just gotten worse. I was trying to tell Bruce at the PGA that, know, I had my tournament inside the tournament. I knew I didn't have a chance to compete or win, but I was just trying to make it to the weekend for my dad and I was able to do that.

The last two weeks have been good as far as that goes, but problem I have is I can't help but think that I'm still I'm still letting him down because I'm not playing worth a darn. As much as I want to play good for him and the rest of our families who are trying to get through this, I can't help feeling that I'm not doing very well because I've been playing so bad. It's kind of been a tussle with me. It's like you're not supposed to be upset because you have no expectations because you haven't been able to prepare; your golf game hasn't been any good.

But then on the other hand, it's like you want to do well for the rest of the family, give them something to cheer about instead of worrying about what's been going on last couple of weeks. So it's kind of been that tussle in between and I just feel like I haven't gotten where I would like to get, and that's to at least compete.

Q. Do you feel any added pressure this week?

WOODY AUSTIN: Like I said, I can't speak for somebody else, but I would have to say that there's more pressure on me this week than if I was coming and my dad was still around. I'm not only trying to compete as far as do my job, but I've also still got that little chip on your shoulder or whatever. But I have that over me saying, I really want to do it for him and for our families who are going through a tough time. I don't know if that's more added pressure than necessary, but that's just who I am and that's just the way I tick, I guess.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much, Woody, and good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.

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