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FEATURE
Austin makes splash with Zero Restriction
By Vartan Kupelian
GPA Correspondent
The splashdown at the Presidents Cup is making Woody Austin famous -- and it's making him money. Not a bad parlay for a journeyman better known until the last few months for his self-deprecating manner than his golf.
The final stages of the 2008 PGA Tour season featured a dramatic duel with Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship, a showdown Austin narrowly lost against the world's best golfer.
That was in August at Southern Hills. In September, Austin got his first chance at international team play and made the most of it. He was a stellar contributor in the United States' handsome victory over the International squad. Austin won 2.5 points for the U.S. with a victory and three halves.
Typical of Austin's career resume, it was something besides his golf that garnered most of the attention. He's been prone to antics grabbing the spotlight, even when he has won on the PGA Tour, and the Presidents Cup was no exception.
Austin made the U.S. team captained by Jack Nicklaus off his career-best PGA Tour campaign. He won nearly $2.9 million to finish 15th on the money list.
In the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal -- the U.S. won, 19.5-14.5 -- Austin was paired with Phil Mickelson in Friday's four-ball matches. At the 14th hole, Austin's ball found the edge of a water hazard. He pulled on his outerwear, went into the hazard and hit the shot before falling backwards into the water. The next day, as he walked up the same fairway, he reached into his golf bag and pulled out a pair of water goggles.
It was pure Austin and it was very funny. Of all the one-liners, captain Nicklaus had one of the best when he called his splashdown artist "Jacques Cousteau."
The rain gear Austin had in his bag was by Zero Restriction, the official outerwear for both Presidents Cup teams. A few weeks later, Zero Restriction signed Austin to an endorsement contract. It was the perfect scenario for ZR to promote its products, and Doug Tibbetts, the president, wasn't about to squander it. Tibbetts pounced on the opportunity.
The company will use his likeness in its communication programs, advertisements and catalogs. You can expect to see the Royal Montreal footage again and again.
Austin, 43, played last week in the Children's Miracle Network Classic after a long break. After the Presidents Cup, Austin returned home to Derby, Kansas, where he becomes an occasional golfer.
"When I get home I pretty much stay home," he said last week in a pre-tournament interview. "I only go to the golf course once -- every Friday I'll play in a noon group with some buddies and stuff. So I'll see those people on Fridays, but I pretty much stay with the boys and the wife throughout the week. I don't get in the golfing circles to where I can see a whole lot of people.
"I think everybody I see now has to make a comment about (the splashdown). Everybody wants to call me 'Aqua Man' instead of Woody. Everybody is quick to throw out their quips about the water.
"Nobody has surprised me. Nobody has come up with anything really good yet."
And Austin won't help by providing his own material.
"Me? I try to stay away from it," he said.
The endorsement deal with Zero Restriction is his reward aside from the victory for the U.S.
"I guess it's nice to get something," Austin said. "At least my sacrifice got me something, because nobody seems to talk about the three birdies at the end. I'm not getting anything for that. So I better get something for the dip. Nobody talks about (the three birdies). It's just about the dive. The golf was secondary."
One of the things Austin will be asked to do by Zero Restriction is test new products.
"I guess that incident convinced Zero Restriction that I would go to great lengths to be the perfect gear tester," he said.
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