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By Greg Hardwig
Naples Daily News
 | | Austin and Calcavecchia split $700,000 of the $2.8 million purse. |
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Aquaman survived his showdown with The Shark on Sunday. And did it with a dramatic shot on the final hole.
Woody Austin, who got the nickname when he fell in a lake after hitting out of the water at The Presidents Cup, drained a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to win the Merrill Lynch Shootout with teammate Mark Calcavecchia by a shot over tournament host Greg Norman and Bubba Watson.
"I haven't won enough to think that it certainly comes easy, so I know how important it is," said Austin, 43, who has three career PGA Tour victories.
"I had a good vibe for him on that last putt," said Calcavecchia, who putted first and gave his partner a good read.
Norman and Watson, who finished at 28-under 188, both just missed their birdie tries from 25 feet away after Austin's putt. Norman's ball ended up inches right of the hole, and Watson's putt ran out of gas and broke in front of the hole to the left.
"Am I disappointed for myself? Yeah. But more for Bubba," Norman said. "I would love for him to get a victory. To get a taste of it."
Norman, 52, was trying to win for the first time since the 2001 Skins Game, while Watson hasn't won as a professional.
"Of course I'm disappointed," Norman said. "We all play to win the championship, no matter what the championship is. We put ourselves in position."
"We were struggling, and then they started struggling at the end and started missing some putts, and kept giving us chances," Watson said.
Norman, who has won his own event just once, and Watson trailed most of the day, but tied it with a hole to play with a birdie on the par-5 17th. Austin and Calcavecchia both put their drives in a fairway bunker on the par-5, and ended up both going over the green. They made a par, the only team in the field to do so during Sunday's scramble format.
Austin was playing in his first-ever challenge season event. Calcavecchia won the tournament for the second time; he and Steve Elkington did it in 1995.
 | | Norman: "Am I disappointed for myself? Yeah. But more for Bubba. I would love for him to get a victory. To get a taste of it." |
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Austin and Calcavecchia split $700,000 of the $2.8 million purse. The 12 two-man teams played modified alternate shot on Friday and best ball on Saturday.
Norman, who said afterward he wanted Watson as his partner next year, not only made news with his golf game this weekend. At the end of Saturday's round, he came into the booth on No. 18 with girlfriend and former tennis star Chris Evert at the end of Saturday's round, the couple's first significant appearance.
The rest of the field essentially was playing for third place. And almost of the field ended up tying for it. When Scott McCarron and Steve Elkington birdied the 18th, it created a five-way tie with defending champions Jerry Kelly and Rod Pampling, Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry, Chris DiMarco and Camilo Villegas and first-round co-leaders Fred Funk and Jeff Sluman.
Funk and Sluman finished birdie-eagle-birdie, while Elkington and McCarron birdied the final four holes.
Austin and Calcavecchia -- who called himself the Pillsbury Dough Man when asked what his nickname was since he was playing with Aquaman -- started the day with a two-shot lead over Norman and Watson. It grew to three after the third hole, but Norman and Watson stayed close and chipped away -- drawing within a shot when Watson chipped in for eagle on the par-5 14th.
Austin and Calcavecchia then missed short birdie putts on Nos. 15 and 16, and another makeable birdie putt on No. 17. Norman and Watson then tied it with a two-putt birdie.
"I started to put Greg and Bubba on my Christmas list the way we were giving the holiday season away there at the end," Austin said.
But Austin and Calcavecchia denied Norman the title. No regrets.
"Absolutely not," Austin said. "Took me 13 years (on tour) to get invited, why the heck would I be? He's had 19 tries."
"We're already invited back," Calcavecchia said. "That's the good news. First entrants into next year's tournament."
It's a date: Dec. 8-10, 2008, for the 20th Shootout.
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