Jim Furyk
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | May 12, 1970 West Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg/13.2 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Wife | Tabitha |
| Children | Caleigh Lynn (6/24/02) Tanner James (12/12/03) |
| Residence | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida |
| College | University of Arizona |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1992 |
| Current tour | PGA Tour (joined 1992) |
| Professional wins | 21 (PGA Tour: 13, Nationwide Tour: 1, Other: 7) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 1 |
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| Masters | 4th: 1998, 2003 |
| U.S. Open | Won 2003 |
| British Open | 4th/T4: 1997, 1998, 2006 |
| PGA Championship | T6: 1997 |
| Awards | |
| Vardon Trophy | 2006 |
James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer, known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing. In September 2006 he reached a career high of second in the Official World Golf Rankings.[1] He has ranked in the top-10 for over 250 weeks between 1999 and 2008.[2]
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[edit] Biography
Furyk was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His early years were spent in the Pittsburgh suburbs learning the game from his father, who was head pro at Uniontown Country Club near Pittsburgh. He graduated from Manheim Township High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1988 where he was a standout basketball player in addition to being a state champion golfer. He attended the University of Arizona and turned professional in 1992.
Furyk won at least one tournament each year on the PGA Tour 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 Rankings. 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 and he fell out of the top hundred on the money list, but 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 only instructor he has ever used is his dad, Mike Furyk, which may account for his unusual swing. His caddy is Mike "Fluff" Cowan, who was Tiger Woods' caddy for Woods' first two years as a professional.
During the 2003 Buick Open on-course commentator Mike Hulbert interviewed Furyk from what appeared to be a snack bar during a rain delay while covering the early rounds on USA Network. Other players (who were not visible, nor identified) were in the room at the time of Furyk's interview and proceeded to throw popcorn at them from off camera as the interview progressed. At one point Furyk even held up a golf towel to block the popcorn as it got worse, and he stated that: "It looks like it's pick on Hubby day!"
[edit] The Swing
Jim Furyk's trademark golf swing involves a distinctive looping motion. At address, he would stand near the golf ball, with the ball right in front of the heel of the golf club. Since his body is near the ball, his arms then must travel vertically during the take-away. This leads to an unusually linear club position at the top, as the club is almost perpendicular to the ground. As Mike Furyk describes in a Golf Digest issue in 2001, Jim Furyk's hips "underturn" during the backswing and "overturn" coming down. At the downswing, he would draw a large arc behind his body (viewing from his right hand side), then paste his elbow against his right hip during impact (due to the closed setup), which is facing squarely to the target.
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.
The commentator David Feherty memorably described Furyk's swing as "an octopus falling out of a tree".[3]
[edit] Professional wins (21)
[edit] PGA Tour wins (13)
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| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runners up |
| 1. | Oct. 15, 1995 | Las Vegas Invitational | -28 (67-65-65-67-67=331) | 1 stroke | Billy Mayfair |
| 2. | Feb. 18, 1996 | United Airlines Hawaiian Open | -11 (68-71-69-69=277) | Playoff | Brad Faxon |
| 3. | Oct. 18, 1998 | Las Vegas Invitational | -25 (67-68-69-63-68=335) | 1 stroke | Mark Calcavecchia |
| 4. | Oct. 17, 1999 | Las Vegas Invitational | -29 (67-64-63-71-66=331) | 1 stroke | Jonathan Kaye |
| 5. | Mar. 6, 2000 | Doral-Ryder Open | -23 (65-67-68-65=265) | 2 strokes | Franklin Langham |
| 6. | Jan. 14, 2001 | Mercedes Championships | -14 (69-69-69-67=274) | 1 stroke |  Rory Sabbatini |
| 7. | May 24, 2002 | Memorial Tournament | -14 (71-70-68-65=274) | 2 strokes | John Cook, David Peoples |
| 8. | Jun. 15, 2003 | U.S. Open | -8 (67-66-67-72=272) | 3 strokes |  Stephen Leaney |
| 9. | Aug. 3, 2003 | Buick Open | -21 (68-66-65-68=267) | 2 strokes | Briny Baird, Chris DiMarco, Geoff Ogilvy, Tiger Woods |
| 10. | Jul. 3, 2005 | Cialis Western Open | -14 (64-70-67-69=270) | 2 strokes | Tiger Woods |
| 11. | May. 7, 2006 | Wachovia Championship | -12 (68-69-68-71=276) | Playoff | Trevor Immelman |
| 12. | Sept. 10, 2006 | Canadian Open | -14 (63-71-67-65=266) | 1 stroke | Bart Bryant |
| 13. | Jul. 29, 2007 | Canadian Open | -16 (69-66-69-64=268) | 1 stroke |  Vijay Singh |
[edit] Nationwide Tour wins (1)
- 1993 (1) Nike Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic
[edit] Other wins (7)
- 1995 (1) Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International
- 1997 (1) Argentine Open
- 1998 (1) Fred Meyer Challenge (with David Duval)
- 2002 (1) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Rich Beem and John Daly)
- 2003 (1) PGA Grand Slam of Golf
- 2005 (1) Nedbank Golf Challenge (South Africa - unofficial money event)
- 2006 (1) Nedbank Golf Challenge (South Africa - unofficial money event)
[edit] PGA Tour career summary
| 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 | 1,577,030 | 14 |
| Career* | 13 (1) | 36,931,143 | 4 |
* Complete through May 11, 2008.
[edit] Major Championships
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runners Up |
| 2003 | U.S. Open | 3 shot lead | -8 (67-66-67-72=272) | 3 strokes | Stephen Leaney |
[edit] Results timeline
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T14 | T6 | CUT | 4 | DNP | 28 | T22 | T13 | T33 |
| U.S. Open | 60 | T62 | CUT | 1 | T48 | T28 | T2 | T2 | |
| The Open Championship | T41 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | 4 | T12 | |
| PGA Championship | T72 | T7 | 9 | T18 | CUT | T34 | T29 | CUT |
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.
[edit] Summary of major championship performances
- Starts - 48
- Wins - 1
- 2nd place finishes - 2
- Top 3 finishes - 3
- Top 5 finishes - 10
- Top 10 finishes - 15
- Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 4
[edit] Results in World Golf Championship events
| 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 |
| CA Championship | T11 | DNP | NT1 | T33 | T12 | T36 | T15 | 4 | T35 | T2 |
| Bridgestone Invitational | T10 | T4 | 2 | T6 | T6 | T22 | T24 | 3 | 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
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] United States national team appearances
- Ryder Cup: 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006
- Presidents Cup: 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners) (Presidents Cup record W-L-H: 10-6-2)
- World Cup: 2003
[edit] References
- ^ Jim Furyk Wins the Canadian Open and is the New World Number Two, Official World Golf Ranking site, 11 September 2006.
- ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
- ^ Patience is pivotal for inconsistent Furyk, The Scotsman, 18 July 2007
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
- Results for the last two years from the Official World Golf Rankings site
- Site featuring Jim's instructional Short Game video.
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