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Austin's obsessed with making Ryder Cup

Published: August 06, 2008

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He was called "Aquaman." It was funny at first - he even played it up by breaking out a pair of large, purple goggles the next day at the competition. 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.

After getting a taste of that, he longs to make the U.S Ryder Cup team with perhaps his last shot at doing so.

He is almost consumed with playing well enough at Oakland Hills that he won't have to rely on Azinger to arbitrarily pick him.

"It's like I told my wife, 'As much as I don't want to think about it and as much as I'm trying not to think about it, I can't STOP thinking about it,"' he said.

Perhaps making the squad would help highlight his game instead of his bloopers.

"I want to be known as me. I want to be known as a golfer," he said. "I don't want to be known as a guy who fell in a lake."