Jim Furyk

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Jim Furyk

Furyk in 2010
Personal information
Full name James Michael Furyk
Born (1970-05-12) May 12, 1970 (age 43)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Spouse Tabitha (m. 2000)
Children Caleigh Lynn (b. 2002)
Tanner James (b. 2003)
Career
College University of Arizona
Turned professional 1992
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1994)
Former tour(s) Nike Tour
Professional wins 26
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 16
Web.com Tour 1
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament 4th: 1998, 2003
U.S. Open Won: 2003
The Open Championship 4th/T4: 1997, 1998, 2006
PGA Championship T6: 1997
Achievements and awards
Vardon Trophy 2006
FedEx Cup Champion 2010
PGA Player of the Year 2010
PGA Tour
Player of the Year
2010

James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year.[1] He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing. Due to his ability to perform at such a high level despite that swing and his deliberate approach to the game, his devoted fan base has given him the nicknames "The Grinder" and "The Businessman". In September 2006 he reached a career high of second in the Official World Golf Ranking.[2] He ranked in the top-10 for over 350 weeks between 1999 and 2010.[3][4]

Contents

Biography [edit]

Furyk was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. At that time, his father Mike was an assistant pro at Edgmont Country Club and later also spent time as a pro at West Chester Golf and Country Club as well as Hidden Springs Golf Course in Horsham. His early years were spent in the Pittsburgh suburbs learning the game from his father, who was head pro at Uniontown Country Club. He graduated from Manheim Township High School in Lancaster County in 1988, where he played basketball in addition to being a state champion golfer. He played college golf at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he was an All-American twice and led the Wildcats to their first (and only) NCAA title in 1992.[5]

Furyk at the 2004 Ryder Cup

The only instructor he has ever used is his father, Mike Furyk, which may account for his unusual swing.

Furyk turned professional in 1992. He won the NIKE Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic on the Nike Tour in 1993. He joined the PGA Tour in 1994 and won at least one tournament each year between 1998 and 2003. At the time, this was the second-best streak of winning seasons behind Tiger Woods and he made the top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking. Furyk's biggest win to date came on June 16, 2003, when he tied the record for the lowest 72-hole score in U.S. Open history to win his first major championship.

In 2004, he only played in fourteen events after missing three months due to surgery to repair cartilage damage in his wrist; he missed six cuts and his highest finish was T6, which caused him to fall out of the top hundred on the money list. He returned to good form in 2005 and regained his top ten ranking, winning a PGA Tour event in that year and two in 2006.

In the 2006 season, he finished a career-high second on the money list and won the Vardon Trophy for the first time. He also had a career-best thirteen top-10 finishes, including nine top-3s, four second-place finishes, and two victories.

The 2010 season was a banner one for Furyk. After going more than two seasons winless, he won a career-best three tournaments on Tour in 2010: The Transitions Championship, the Verizon Heritage, and the season-ending Tour Championship. Furyk's victory in the Tour Championship also earned him the 2010 FedEx Cup after winning by one stroke.[6] His accomplishments in 2010 won him both the PGA Player of the Year[7] and PGA Tour Player of the Year for the first time.[8]

His caddy since 1999 has been Mike "Fluff" Cowan, who was Tiger Woods' caddy for Woods' first two years as a professional.

The swing [edit]

Jim Furyk's trademark looping golf swing begins with a setup that has the ball at the heel of the club instead of the center, or even out at the toe. This moves his 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) frame in so close that his hands are virtually touching his thighs. Most golfers would have a difficult time with a golf club from such a starting point. Compare Furyk's setup to the more textbook setup of Tiger Woods, who begins with his hands 8 inches or so away from his body, a position that promotes a take-away that will put the golf club over his right shoulder at the top, and keep his right elbow tucked against his body. For a human being, this is the classic launch position. Since the beginning of time it has been used to throw a stone, a spear, a baseball, or swing a club. The big muscles of the body—the back, shoulders and thighs—are in control, not the weaker ones in the hands and wrists. The athlete (or hunter in early times) is said to be "loaded." His entire body is poised in the optimum power position.

Furyk at the 2008 Players

Furyk, by contrast, takes the club away in the manner of a basketball player shooting a hook shot. His arms move back vertically, and at the top his right elbow "flies away" from his body. Tall players tend toward more upright swings. While this manner of beginning doesn't promote power, it is an early step to facilitate accurate ball-striking. The club's shaft is nearly vertical, like a putter. It moves straight back and straight up, keeping it on path longer, which tends to reinforce in the mind the route along which to bring it back into the ball. At the top of the backswing, Furyk is in the same position as Jack Nicklaus would be—club shaft parallel to the intended line of flight, elbow flying off to who-knows-where. Starting the downswing, Furyk then "corrects" for his unconventional takeaway by dropping his right elbow into the slot where it needs to be, a move that brings the golf club onto the proper swing path to achieve sound results. It's this downswing beginning that produces the idiosyncratic loop in his swing.

As Mike Furyk describes in a Golf Digest issue in 2001, Jim Furyk's hips "underturn" during the backswing and "overturn" coming down. On the downswing, he draws the club in a large arc behind his body (viewing from his right hand side), then pastes his elbow against his right hip at impact. Golf commentator Gary McCord has said it looks like Furyk is trying to swing inside a phone booth. Another commentator David Feherty memorably described Furyk's swing as "an octopus falling out of a tree". Others have noted it reminds them of "a one-armed golfer using an axe to kill a snake in a telephone booth."[9]

This move was controversial during Jim Furyk's early career; however, his father never forced him to change what came naturally to him. Jim Furyk's well-known ball-striking precision is now serving him well on the professional tour.

Furyk, however, isn't the first professional golfer to show us that a swing that defies convention—and countless books and articles on golf—can be successful. Nicklaus' swing was upright, with a flying elbow—and one of the biggest loopers of all time was Lee Trevino.

Professional wins (26) [edit]

PGA Tour wins (16) [edit]

Legend
Major championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff event (1)
Other PGA Tour (14)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 15, 1995 Las Vegas Invitational 67-65-65-67-67=331 –28 1 stroke United States Billy Mayfair
2 Feb 18, 1996 United Airlines Hawaiian Open 68-71-69-69=277 –11 Playoff United States Brad Faxon
3 Oct 18, 1998 Las Vegas Invitational 67-68-69-63-68=335 –25 1 stroke United States Mark Calcavecchia
4 Oct 17, 1999 Las Vegas Invitational 67-64-63-71-66=331 –29 1 stroke United States Jonathan Kaye
5 Mar 6, 2000 Doral-Ryder Open 65-67-68-65=265 –23 2 strokes United States Franklin Langham
6 Jan 14, 2001 Mercedes Championships 69-69-69-67=274 –14 1 stroke South Africa Rory Sabbatini
7 May 24, 2002 Memorial Tournament 71-70-68-65=274 –14 2 strokes United States John Cook, United States David Peoples
8 Jun 15, 2003 U.S. Open 67-66-67-72=272 –8 3 strokes Australia Stephen Leaney
9 Aug 3, 2003 Buick Open 68-66-65-68=267 –21 2 strokes United States Briny Baird, United States Chris DiMarco,
Australia Geoff Ogilvy, United States Tiger Woods
10 Jul 3, 2005 Cialis Western Open 64-70-67-69=270 –14 2 strokes United States Tiger Woods
11 May 7, 2006 Wachovia Championship 68-69-68-71=276 –12 Playoff South Africa Trevor Immelman
12 Sep 10, 2006 Canadian Open 63-71-67-65=266 –14 1 stroke United States Bart Bryant
13 Jul 29, 2007 Canadian Open 69-66-69-64=268 –16 1 stroke Fiji Vijay Singh
14 Mar 21, 2010 Transitions Championship 67-68-67-69=271 –13 1 stroke South Korea K. J. Choi
15 Apr 18, 2010 Verizon Heritage 67-68-67-69=271 –13 Playoff England Brian Davis
16 Sep 26, 2010 The Tour Championship 67-65-70-70=272 –8 1 stroke England Luke Donald

PGA Tour playoff record (3–8)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1996 United Airlines Hawaiian Open United States Brad Faxon Won with birdie on third extra hole
2 1997 United Airlines Hawaiian Open United States Mike Reid, United States Paul Stankowski Stankowski won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Reid eliminated with par on first hole
3 1998 Buick Classic United States J.P. Hayes Lost to birdie on first extra hole
4 2001 WGC-NEC Invitational United States Tiger Woods Lost to birdie on seventh extra hole
5 2003 Ford Championship at Doral United States Scott Hoch Lost to birdie on third extra hole
6 2005 Wachovia Championship Spain Sergio García, Fiji Vijay Singh Singh won with par on fourth extra hole
Garcia eliminated with par on first hole
7 2005 Michelin Championship at Las Vegas United States Wes Short, Jr. Lost to par on second extra hole
8 2006 Wachovia Championship South Africa Trevor Immelman Won with par on first extra hole
9 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Germany Bernhard Langer, South Africa Rory Sabbatini Sabbatini won with birdie on first extra hole
10 2010 Verizon Heritage England Brian Davis Won with par on first extra hole
11 2012 Transitions Championship South Korea Bae Sang-moon, England Luke Donald, United States Robert Garrigus Donald won with birdie on first extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1) [edit]

Other wins (9) [edit]

Major championships [edit]

Wins (1) [edit]

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2003 U.S. Open 3 shot lead –8 (67-66-67-72=272) 3 strokes Australia Stephen Leaney

Results timeline [edit]

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP T29 T28 4 T14
U.S. Open T28 DNP T5 T5 T14 T17
The Open Championship DNP DNP T45 4 T4 T10
PGA Championship DNP T13 T17 T6 CUT T8
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters T14 T6 CUT 4 DNP 28 T22 T13 T33 T10
U.S. Open 60 T62 CUT 1 T48 T28 T2 T2 T36 T33
The Open Championship T41 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT 4 T12 T5 T34
PGA Championship T72 T7 9 T18 CUT T34 T29 CUT T29 T63
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013
The Masters CUT T24 11 T25
U.S. Open T16 CUT T4
The Open Championship CUT T48 T34
PGA Championship T24 T39 T42

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary [edit]

  • Starts – 70
  • Wins – 1
  • 2nd place finishes – 2
  • 3rd place finishes – 0
  • Top 3 finishes – 3
  • Top 5 finishes – 12
  • Top 10 finishes – 19
  • Top 25 finishes – 20
  • Missed cuts – 13
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 13
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 4

Results in World Golf Championship events [edit]

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Accenture Match Play Championship R64 R16 DNP R16 R16 DNP R64 R64 R32 R64
Cadillac Championship T11 DNP NT1 T33 T12 T36 T15 4 T35 T2
Bridgestone Invitational T10 T4 2 T6 T6 T22 T24 3 DNP T27
Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Accenture Match Play Championship R16 R32 R64 R64 R32
Cadillac Championship 3 T37 T49 DNP T35
Bridgestone Invitational T51 T6 T23 T2
HSBC Champions DNP DNP T62 DNP

1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary [edit]

Year Wins (Majors) Earnings ($) Rank
1994 0 236,603 78
1995 1 535,380 33
1996 1 738,950 26
1997 0 1,619,480 4
1998 1 2,054,334 3
1999 1 1,827,593 12
2000 1 1,940,519 17
2001 1 2,540,734 13
2002 1 2,363,250 14
2003 2 (1) 5,182,865 4
2004 0 691,675 116
2005 1 4,255,369 4
2006 2 7,213,316 2
2007 1 4,154,046 7
2008 0 3,455,714 12
2009 0 3,946,515 7
2010 3 4,809,622 2
2011 0 1,529,690 53
2012 0 3,623,805 12
2013* 0 868,472 34
Career* 16 (1) $53,587,930 4

*As of April 14, 2013.

U.S. national team appearances [edit]

Professional

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "The Daily Wrap-up, Round 4: The Tour Championship". pgatour.com. September 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-27. 
  2. ^ Jim Furyk Wins the Canadian Open and is the New World Number Two, Official World Golf Ranking site, September 11, 2006.
  3. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  4. ^ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986" (PDF). European Tour Official Guide 09 (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
  5. ^ "Furyk named to Ryder Cup team". September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012. 
  6. ^ "Jim Furyk edges Luke Donald to win Tour Championship". BBC Sport. September 27, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-28. 
  7. ^ Career Feats: Furyk named PGA Player of the Year; Kuchar earns first Vardon Trophy
  8. ^ Furyk named PGA Tour's Player of the Year
  9. ^ Patience is pivotal for inconsistent Furyk, The Scotsman, July 18, 2007

External links [edit]