Jim

Furyk

Furyk spends most of his time on the senior circuit these days but does pop down occasionally. Most recent was an appearance at the RBC Heritage where he missed the cut. He’s now missed the cut in four of his last five starts on the PGA TOUR. He punched his ticket into this week’s event with his win at last year’s U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club. Furyk has missed the cut in only three of his previous U.S. Open trips but this will be his first appearance since the 2019 edition.

The 51-year-old Furyk will make his just second PGA Tour start of the season, although he’s been a regular in PGA Tour Champions action in 2022, playing five events with a best finish of T-8 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January. Also in January, Furyk teed it up at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he was T-42. In 2015 at Hilton Head, he shot a final-round 63 to tie Kevin Kisner at 18-under 266 and earned the win with a birdie on the second playoff hole. In 2010, Furyk won in a playoff over Brian Davis after Davis called a penalty on himself for striking a loose impediment during his backswing while in a hazard. They had tied at 13-under 271. He was runner-up in 2006, finishing one back of Aaron Baddeley, and was T-2 in 2005 (two back of Peter Lonard).

The 51-year-old Furyk was playing in his first PGA Tour event since the RBC Heritage last April and played his way onto the first-round leaderboard with an 8-under 62 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. He faded with back-to-back rounds of 2-over 72 on Friday and Saturday, but he rebounded on Sunday with a 5-under 65 to finish at 9-under 271. Last year at Hualalai, Furyk finished T-9 at 11-under 205, 10 shots back of winner Darren Clarke. He won three Champions titles during last year’s wrap-around season and posted 18 top 10s in 26 starts. Furyk had the Schwab Cup within his grasp heading to the back nine of the final day of last season, but he finished T-5 at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and second on the Schwab Cup points list. Furyk has shown his work ethic and drive haven’t changed since moving the Champions tour full-time: Last season led the Champions in scoring average (68.84), birdies per round (4.3) and greens in regulation (76.28 percent).

The 51-year-old, making his 18th appearance, won the 1996 edition in a playoff over Brad Faxon after being T2 thru 18 holes and a 36-hole co-leader. That was his second TOUR victory of a now 17 in 632 events, most recently hoisting a trophy at the 2015 RBC Heritage 101 starts ago, where he was T36 after R1 (71-64-68-63). The Arizona product, the owner of the lowest score on TOUR with a 12-under 58 in R4 at the 2016 Travelers (finished T5), made just seven TOUR starts last season and finished 201st in the FedExCup standings. He’s won three times on the Champions Tour in 26 events, including last season’s U.S. Senior Open, and this is his season debut among the younger crowd. If this lead/co-lead holds up, it would be his first lead/co-lead after any round since T1 after R3 of the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone (finished T3). Today, his lone blemish on 10 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation was bogey-5 at hole 1 (3-putt from 85'11"), but then played his final 17 in 9-under, ending his scoring with an ace at the 187-yard par-3 17th (https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1481767262671486979?s=20). At last check, the NE Florida resident lost 0.817 strokes off-the-tee but gained 2.419 on approach and 4.794 with the flat stick, buoyed by three birdie conversions from between 25 and 34 feet. See link below to post-round presser. UPDATE: With R1 complete, Furyk is T2, one back of defending champ Kevin Na.

The 51-year-old Furyk, who won three times on the PGA Tour Champions during last year’s wrap-around season, made just seven Tour starts over the 2020-21 campaign. After making the cut in the first four, including a T-47 last year at Waialae CC in Honolulu, he missed the cut in his last three – the Honda Classic, Texas Open and at Hilton Head. However, he notched 18 top 10s in 26 Champions starts with three wins, three runner-up results and one T-3. Furyk is playing the Sony this week on a sponsor exemption (member not otherwise exempt). In 17 previous starts at Waialae, Furyk has made 14 cuts with a win 1996, a T-2 in 2997 and three other tops 10s. At Waialae in 1996, he won with a birdie on third playoff hole to top Brad Faxon, who had made a 50-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole to force the playoff. Stats-wise last season, Furyk led the Champions in scoring average (68.84), greens-in-regulation percentage (76.28) and birdie average (4.30), was second on the Charles Schwab Cup money list and points list, as well as the regular-season money list.

Formerly paired with his father Mike, Jim has since taken to the PNC Championship with his son. After finishing T-9 in 2018 and T-11 in 2019, Mike was sent to the bench for Tanner. The father-son duo collected a T-9 finish last year. While Tanner does not play golf religiously, he has been on Jim’s side before, caddying for his old man at the 2021 SAS Championship on the PGA Tour Champions. The duo captured a T-3 result. A member of his high school’s lacrosse team, perhaps Tanner’s skill from the field can transfer to the golf course.

Sponsor invite and World No. 237 Jim Furyk opened with bogey-free 69 and 70 to sit T19 on 3-under, two short of the overnight top 10 and nine adrift of leader Sam Burns. Thru 36 holes, he’s scribbled down just four birdies (rank: T105), but has squared just one bogey, No. 1-ranked in the latter at the midpoint. The 50-year-old, who’s recorded one of only four bogey-free rounds thus far, is 1-under thru six holes off No. 1 tee, circling birdie-2 at 6 from 4'9". When play resumes, he’ll be hitting his second out of the rough at the par-4 seventh from 175 yards away. Players were allowed to finish the hole they were on, if they so chose, before heading into the clubhouse. The final threesome of Burns, Tyler McCumber and Jason Kokrak, originally scheduled at 10:05 am, were about to tee off when play was suspended. UPDATE: Furyk returned to eight pars and four bogeys for a 3-over 74, currently down 14 places to T33 on even-par 213.

Furyk’s 50th birthday came in May in the midst of the pandemic-related competitive hiatus, but he eventually made his PGA Tour Champions debut in August and promptly won each of his first two starts on the over-50 circuit. He ultimately made six Champions starts this year, adding a runner-up at the TimberTech Championship and finishing no worse than T-13. But Furyk also remained active on the main circuit, making eight post-lockdown starts on the PGA Tour and making four cuts in the process. His best result came in his lone start of the new 2020-21 wraparound season, when he finished T-46 at the Safeway Open in September. That remains the site of his most recent top-25 on Tour (T-19 in 2019), while his last top-10 finish came at the 2019 Players when he finished second.

Furyk remains fully exempt on Tour this season by virtue of a top-25 career money list exemption, and he still has a top-50 money list exemption at his disposal. So while his focus may now be shifting toward Champions competition, as he also hosts an over-50 event in Florida, the veteran will likely still make several starts against younger competition in the new year.

Furyk is in the top 15 in birdie average this year, has a stellar record at Firestone, including four top tens in his last four starts in Akron. He’s from the region (Pittsburgh area) and met his hot wife, Tabitha, here after a practice round in 1995.