Jim Furyk, who won the FedEx Cup in 2010, was in danger of missing the PGA Tour’s playoffs completely this season.
Then he shot a Tour-record 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship to tie for fifth three weeks ago and punched his ticket to the Barclays, the first postseason event, which begins Thursday at Bethpage Black.
The top 125 in the standings will be there, and for the 10th consecutive season, Furyk is among that group.
“I think, in the back of my mind, one of the things I was thinking about was where that put me up on the leaderboard and a good finish,” said Furyk, who was on the bubble at 118th in the FedEx point standings and climbed 16 places to earn his spot at Bethpage Black. “Honestly, I’m not a guy that ever follows points, so I had no damn idea how that would do. I’ve never played for points. …
“I think I went to the range (the day before, when he stood tied for 70th) rather than just kind of mailing it in. … I just didn’t want to go shoot another 72 and hit it like I did (in round three).
“It would have been easy to do, but I wanted to practice and kind of get some momentum. I wanted to go out and play a solid round of golf today. But with a big push coming up here, the playoffs coming up, I kind of wanted to find something. I went to the range Saturday night to practice, talked to my dad (the only coach he’s ever had) quite a bit.”
And the next day, he came out on fire.
Starting on the back nine, Furyk birdied the first three holes, and he added another birdie on the 16th hole before really reeling off six birdies and an eagle at No. 3 while shooting 8-under 27 on the front nine.
“The crowd showed up (once the word spread); there were cameras everywhere,” said Furyk, who has to remain in the top 100 in the standings to qualify for the Deutsche Bank Championship next week at TPC Boston after he moved to No. 94 with a tie for 10th last week in the Wyndham Championship.
“I think every competitor lives and breathes moments where they can really get focused, they can really get excited and champion around something, and that was my moment. And I guess that’s, for opportunities to win more tournaments, for opportunities to get in situations like that, that’s what keeps me at (age) 46 still interested.”
Furyk is in his 23rd season on the PGA Tour, and it is not as if he is losing it. He claimed his 17th victory on the circuit last year in the RBC Heritage. Furyk’s only major title was the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields.
There is a good reason he is playing catch-up late this season. He sustained a left wrist injury last September in the third leg of the playoffs, the BMW Championship (an event at which he shot 59 in 2013). He then missed the Tour Championship plus the Presidents Cup.
When a layoff didn’t heal the injury, he underwent surgery in February and didn’t play until May.
The Pennsylvania native showed he was back when he closed with a 66 to tie for second behind Dustin Johnson in the U.S. Open at Oakmont. He also finished second in the 2007 U.S. Open on the same course behind Argentina’s Angel Cabrera.
“To have a chance to win the U.S. Open this year in my home state on Sunday … it was fun,” Furyk said. “I think everything is coming around well. I feel good about the way I’m playing.
“I also know that I have to continue to play well to keep playing. … It would have be disappointing to play Greensboro (last week) and have the season end, if that made sense, and not get in any playoff events and then wait for the fall to come around.
“I’m a little worn out. I played 11 out of 14 weeks, which I didn’t realize it was that much. … But I think I have a little something left. If I don’t play well, my season will end.”
Furyk won the FedEx Cup six years ago by capturing the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, and he just might have enough left to make another run.
And he loves the postseason format and that it gives the PGA Tour a little something extra, even though the playoffs go head-to-head with the start of football, both college and the NFL.
“I think there’s a number of reasons why the FedEx Cup is so important to a player. … I think it brings our sponsors and tournaments together as a whole, as a group, a season that they can get behind and be a part of,” said Furyk, who is a vice captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team but also is on captain Davis Love III’s radar as a possible captain’s pick. “It’s great for our fans because it extended our season another four or five weeks. It really has transformed our Tour in the last 10 years.
“Once the PGA Championship ended in the past, and before the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, there was a little bit of a void in our schedule and a lack of interest as far as TV viewers. Now we have got great ratings and folks watching an exciting finish to the season.”
Facing the prospect of being left out inspired Furyk to shoot 58 at age 46.
–Courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
