<table> </table> BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. | Woody Austin headed into last year&#8217;s PGA Championship as just another journeyman on the PGA Tour. But man, what a journey he had that week in Tulsa, Okla.</p><p>Austin, a resident of Derby, Kan., found himself hot on the trail of Tiger Woods, earning the kind of roars triggered by the world&#8217;s best golfer.</p><p>&#8220;It was the first time in 12 years I had a chance on a Sunday in a major, so it was pretty cool,&#8221; Austin said.</p><p>Austin&#8217;s eventual second-place finish to Woods by 2 strokes was the breakthrough moment of his career.</p><p>It was, he said, sweeter than the three career victories he has gotten since joining the tour in 1995.</p><p>He&#8217;s back for another shot at capturing the Wanamaker Trophy when this year&#8217;s PGA Championship opens today at Oakland Hills.</p><p>With Woods out for the season, rehabbing after knee surgery, does Austin think he can win it?</p><p>&#8220;I always think I can win whether Tiger&#8217;s playing or not,&#8221; Austin said. &#8220;If you&#8217;re not playing well, it doesn&#8217;t matter.&#8221;</p><p>Austin is one of the more popular players on tour, most likely because the galleries see themselves in him.</p><p>&#8220;I like to try to show that I&#8217;m no different than you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You&#8217;re doing your job and I&#8217;m doing mine. Other than that, I just play golf.</p><p>&#8220;I play golf a little bit better than you, but that doesn&#8217;t allow me or give me the right to walk around like I&#8217;m better than you. So I try not to give off that persona. I try to make people feel like they can come to me. And I try to talk to them as much as possible.&#8221;</p><p>The most impressive things about Austin are often eclipsed by those hot-pepper shirts he wears or his unfortunate appearances on video.</p><p>After winning the Buick Open in 1995, Austin beat out David Duval for the PGA Tour rookie of the year award. He closed with a 67 in last year&#8217;s PGA Championship at Southern Hills and finished second to a guy who won&#8217;t be around to hold him off this week.</p><p>But he bristles at the way he&#8217;s portrayed by some &#8212; a sort of comical oaf who is constantly getting into humorous situations. He believes some ridicule him, and that many do not take him seriously as a golfer or a man.</p><p>He&#8217;s tired of seeing the video from years ago where he repeatedly hit himself in the forehead with a putter shaft after missing a putt.</p><p>Then, of course there was last year during a critical point in the Presidents Cup when he attempted to advance a ball on the edge of a water hazard left of the 14th fairway at Royal Montreal, splashed it out with a mighty swing, then lost his balance and fell face first into the lake.</p><p>That was shown countless times on television and is a staple on video Web sites. Almost no one remembers that he birdied the final three holes that day and earned a much-needed half-point for the Americans. Or that he captured an impressive 2 1/2 points for the U.S. side in his first international team competition.</p><p>He was called &#8220;Aquaman.&#8221; It was funny at first &#8212; he even played it up by breaking out a pair of goggles the next day.</p><p>Since then, everywhere he turns someone mentions his least favorite moment of what was otherwise one of the greatest weeks of his life, ending with a victory celebration alongside captain Jack Nicklaus and his teammates.</p><p>After getting a taste of that, he longs to make the U.S Ryder Cup team &#8212; with the PGA Championship perhaps his last shot at doing so.</p><p>&#8220;I played every major. I&#8217;ve been around the world and played in different events,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If I get on the Ryder Cup, I&#8217;ll say I&#8217;ve played in every big event and on every big stage that you could play as a professional golfer. ... That&#8217;s the one thing I&#8217;m lacking.&#8221;</p><p>To make the U.S. squad for next month&#8217;s Ryder Cup at Valhalla, Austin will either have to climb one spot in the rankings &#8212; he is ninth, one rung below Steve Stricker &#8212; or else catch the eye of team captain Paul Azinger, who could make him one of his four elective picks.</p><p>He is almost consumed with playing well enough at Oakland Hills that he won&#8217;t have to rely on Azinger to arbitrarily pick him.</p><p>Perhaps making the squad would help highlight his game instead of his bloopers.</p><p>&#8220;I want to be known as me. I want to be known as a golfer,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to be known as a guy who fell in a lake.&#8221;