St. Jude winner Woody Austin isn't always known for his convential ways and positive outlook. So when he qualified for the U.S. Open next week sans putter, it wasn't a complete surprise.
Austin was one of 24 players who advanced from last Monday's 36-hole qualifier at Ohio State's Scarlet Golf Club and the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Most of those who earned their way in were PGA Tour players.
"I went out and played Scarlet Golf Course the first round and played -- I played 17 absolutely flawless holes and I shot -- I was 3-over," Austin said. "It was just extremely frustrating."
After he three-putted the 11th on the Scioto course, Austin said he decided the putter wasn't working for him.
"I went a little overboard and kind of walked to the side and said, well, you know, my chances are pretty much over and I pretty much just kind of got rid of the putter at that point and I proceeded to knock in about a 6, 7 footer for birdie and a wedge in on the next hole," he explained.
"I proceeded two holes after that to hole about a 40-footer for eagle with my sand wedge and next thing you know I played the last three holes right down the middle, right on the green and two-putted and I made it by a shot."
Perhaps pulling out your wedge the next time you're putting bad won't work for you, but it seems to have put Austin in good position. He took 24 putts in his final round in Memphis en route to a 62 and a five-shot victory.
NO DRIVER FOR WIE: With her lingering wrist injury, Michelle Wie kept the driver in the bag - well, mostly - at the LPGA Championship.
For the first two rounds, Wie didn't bring out the driver once.
"I was very proud of myself that I didn't pull out the driver once over 36 holes and that is a world record for me," she said. "I pull a driver out every three holes at least."
Wie said she focused on hitting fairways and greens, and being gentle on her wrist, which was injured earlier this year during a fall.
It wasn't until her 47th hole, when she was well on her way to a disappointing third-round 83, that she brought out the driver.
"I cranked one on 11," the 17-year-old said. "It was very therapeutic actually for me."
Although, she said, she hit into the rough.
IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD FIT: LPGA player Kim Saiki-Maloney has only had six rounds under par this season. Part of the reason, she learned, was poorly fit equipment.
"In March, I had put a new set of irons in my bag, and I just couldn't -- didn't realize that the specs weren't right on where they should have been. So I was having a tough time controlling my irons," she said.
Her old set of irons, she explained, were too upright - so she went to the opposite end of the spectrum and began playing with clubs that were too flat.
"Then the shaft actually was not comparable to what I was hitting before, and I didn't find that out until like a month later," she said. "As a result, I'm typically a pretty straight ball hitter, and I noticed that I didn't have control over the shape of my shots."
But it's getting better. Saiki-Maloney has a brand-new set of Callaway irons, built just for her, and she's feeling good with those. She shot a 67 in the first round of the LPGA Championship after putting the new irons in her bag. Though she wasn't as consistent through the weekend, Saiki-Maloney finished in a tie for 25th, her best of the year.
ANNIKA PULLS OUT OLD FAVORITE: It's been two weeks since Annika Sorenstam came back from a nasty back injury, and the former World No. 1 said she's lacking in the strength she once had.
"I'm not going to hit the same shots that I did last year; I just don't have the strength," she said last week. "But I'm hoping to hit some fairways, hit some greens, I've got my 4-iron and I've got a 9-wood in the bag and it's working pretty nicely."
The 9-wood hasn't been in her bag for, she figured, five or six years.
ODDS AND ENDS: Titleist was the golf ball of choice at the Stanford St. Jude Championship with 120 (77 percent) players relying upon the Pro V1 or Pro V1x; at the McDonald's LPGA Championship with 109 (73 percent) players; at the Principal Charity Classic with 57 (75 percent) players; and at the Bangkok Airways Open with 117 (81 percent) players. ... At the Nationwide Tour's Rex Hospital Open, 137 out of 156 (87.8 percent) players used Golf Pride grips on the majority of clubs in their bag. ... Etonic announced it has signed Brittany Lincicome to wear the new women's line of Etonic ST-GT and G>SOK golf shoes.
