GOLF ROUNDUP : Austin’s Bank Account Swells by $216,000

Woody Austin has gone from being a part-time teller in a Tampa, Fla., credit union to a PGA Tour regular in less than a year. On the way back, he can count his own money.

Austin earned $216,000 Sunday when he parred the second hole of a playoff with Mike Brisky to win the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich.

The purse increased his season total to $558,115.

After a tentative 72 on Saturday had left him three shots off the lead, Austin became more aggressive in the final round and closed with a five-under-par 67. Brisky shot a 68, and their 72-hole totals of 18-under 270 at the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club course forced a playoff.

After opening the playoff with pars on No. 18, Austin had the advantage on the 401-yard 10th hole when Brisky hit his approach into a greenside bunker. Austin, who was near the fringe, 12 feet from the hole, made his par and watched as Brisky’s par bid from 10 feet curled around and past the cup.

“I wasn’t nervous in the playoff,” Austin said. “You just have to go get it. It’s a no-lose situation. So, once it starts, you just have to be aggressive and go for it.”

Jeff Sluman, defending champion Fred Couples, Ernie Els and Tom Byrum missed the playoff by one stroke.

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Dottie Mochrie dropped in a birdie putt on the final hole to finish at 12-under-par 204, three shots better than Kelly Robbins in the McCall’s Classic on the LPGA Tour at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

It was Mochrie’s first victory in front of her parents, and she celebrated by hugging her mother, who had run onto the green. Both had tears in their eyes.

It also enabled Mochrie to reach a personal goal of winning $3 million before age 30. She will be 30 on Aug. 17.

Mochrie, who started the day tied with Pat Bradley at eight-under, had four birdies and no bogeys to shoot a 68. Robbins matched Mochrie for the lowest round of the day and finished at 207.

The $500,000 tournament was shortened to 54 holes after fog wiped out Thursday’s play.

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Bob Murphy tied a PGA Senior Tour record with his second consecutive seven-under-par 63 and won the VFW Seniors Championship at Belton, Mo., by one shot over defending champion Jim Colbert.

Murphy took the lead over crowd favorite Colbert with a curling, 12-foot birdie on the tough par-four 17th hole and finished at 15-under 195 for the three rounds. He and Colbert, who tied the tournament record with an eight-under 62, competed head-to-head over the last three holes for the $135,000 first prize.

“That putt on 17 was the winner,” said Murphy, who had a 69 on Friday and said he was still adjusting from jet lag that lingered from a trip to Ireland.

It’s the fourth Seniors title for Murphy this year and raised his official earnings to $943,084. Colbert, from Kansas City, left a 20-foot birdie putt inches to the right on No. 18.

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Steady Jesper Parnevik shot another bogey-free round of five-under-par 67 while cruising to a five-shot victory in the $1 million Scandinavian Masters in Barseback, Sweden.

Parnevik finished at 270, 18 under par on the 7,301-yard Barseback course.

Colin Montgomerie was second.John Daly, the British Open champion, was ninth at 281.