WHILE it is a rare sight to see an octopus fall from a tree, Jim Furyk knew that David Feherty was not making a kind assessment of his swing. The Irish former tour professional has made a career as an acerbic television pundit in America — he once upset Colin Montgomerie for likening his physical appearance to Mrs Doubtfire — but Furyk, the straight-talking son of a Pennsylvania club pro, was not ruffled by Feherty’s likening to a tumbling sea creature.
“I find it funny. I like David — he could almost do stand-up comedy if he wanted. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you can’t have much fun,” Furyk said.
Maybe the 36-year-old has heard it all before, perhaps he has thicker skin than Scotland’s finest — or could it be that he’s just happy to look at his tour stats? For a man whose swing does a loop-the-loop at its highest point, he hasn’t done badly.
Furyk was confronted by the twin gifts (a pair of roses) of a blonde streaker on his way to the only major victory of his career at the US Open in 2003. And it is a similarly single-minded pursuit of glory that has enabled a player perhaps less lavishly gifted than some to go into the final furlongs of the season as No 3 in the world after one victory and more top-ten finishes (ten) than any other. He is No 2 in the American money list with more than $5 million (about £2.6 million) and only Tiger Woods has banked more — so maybe it doesn’t smart so much to be compared to an eight-armed cephalopod when your career on-course earnings stretch to nearly $30 million.
The swing that has attracted so much attention since Furyk took up the game at the age of 12 has been refined from his early years on tour, when at the top of the backswing the club would be directly above his head and angled to the right of the target. Now, the club rests behind his cranium, pointing at his intended destination. He grips the club with a two-finger overlap to cut down on the whip at the top of his swing and putts cross-handed. His out-up-in delivery that once produced a “ borderline slice” doesn’t do much for his power game (he drives the ball a modest average of 280 yards), but there are few that can rival his accuracy off the tee or potency from close range.
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FACT FILE
Age: 36
Nationality: American
Wins: 16
Major wins: 1 (US Open, 2003)
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Major record in 2006: Masters: tied 22nd; US Open: tied 2nd; Open: 4th; US PGA: tied 29th
World ranking: 3
How he qualified for World Match Play: Fourth on the Major Championship ranking
Previous WMP experience: None