WOODY AUSTIN: I don't know if it really plays in my mind. To be a 31-year-old rookie in 1995, there's not too many people where I was anyway, but I felt like the fact that I did come out and have that success, everybody was like, who is he or whatever, and then I felt like I validated it to a point in '96 because I finished 32nd on the Money List. I didn't win but I had another solid year.
But then all the problems I've had since then, you know, you can say that people think he probably had his one year that he's going to have. Just to get back there like last year at Harbour Town having a chance and now this year going through. You just feel -- deep down you feel vindicated, like, "I can play out here, I can win."
I talked to Jack Nicklaus out on the range at Memorial this year, and he said something that I've said so many times, but when it comes from me it's not really looked at as a very good comment, but I've always said that to me competing is just having a chance to win. Competing is not to keep your card, competing is not to just survive out here and be middle of the road. Competing is to compete to win. Well, I've had a lot of people say, sorry, you've had success on Tour, you're still here, you've been out here for nine years, but I haven't competed since -- how do you say that? Well, that's my definition of competing, and when they talked to Jack at Memorial this year, they were congratulating him for making the cut and this and that and the other, and he was disappointed. He said, "That's not competing to me."
I told him that the next day, "I just want you to know I appreciate that. They won't listen to me, but they'll listen to you. Your definition of competing is the same as mine."
End of FastScripts.
