HE IS one of the most recognisable figures in golf, a player renowned for a loopy swing and a fighting spirit who gives no quarter to any man. Almost by stealth, Jim Furyk has climbed the world rankings in the past 12 months, moving up four places since the end of 2005 to his present position of No 3, behind Tiger Woods and, after his third-place finish in the World Golf Championship event in Ohio last month, breathing down the neck of Phil Mickelson. Along the way he has passed Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and Sergio García.
A tough, no-nonsense, uncompromising character, the US Open champion in 2003 will prove a formidable opponent this week at Wentworth. He has arrived on the back of another consistent year with ten finishes in the top ten, one win, a share of second at the US Open and a fourth-place finish at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Most impressive is how the 36-year-old American — who has Ukrainian, Hungarian, Czech and Polish blood in him — keeps an even keel, regardless of how he is doing. Uncomfortable with hyperbole, Furyk is quietly proud of his achievements but was not amazed with his climb to the upper echelons of the game.
“No, I’m not surprised,” he said. “I’m happy with the way I’ve been playing and I’m not really a guy that puts a lot of emphasis on the world rankings. To say ‘It’s great to be No 3 in the world’ would be a little hypocritical. It’s nice, but it doesn’t mean a darn thing. It’s not going to make me play any worse or better.
“Whether or not I show up on TV every week versus Tiger or Phil or whoever is not important to me. I think the guys that get more attention than me are deserving of it.”
Advertisement
That said, Furyk — whose swing was memorably compared by David Feherty to an octopus falling out of a tree — will be highly visible over the next couple of weeks as he sets off in pursuit of the £1 million first prize here and then heads to Ireland for the Ryder Cup.
In his case the maxim certainly holds true: it is not how, but how many. For his opponents, his matchplay record in singles play will make for uncomfortable reading. While he has not set the world alight in four-balls and foursomes, Furyk has won seven singles matches and halved the other in eight Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup matches dating back to 1997.
“I enjoy the matchplay format, but I wouldn’t want to play it every week because you can play well and still be eliminated,” Furyk admitted. “You can play the second best round of the day and be packing up and heading home. It’s a different mental game, but it’s also a lot of fun.”
Furyk says he is hoping to use his week at Wentworth as a springboard for the Ryder Cup. “Besides the fact that it’s at a nice golf course and a wonderful event, I’ll be able to get used to the time change and get into matchplay mode,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll get quite a few rounds under my belt.
“The only negative would be if I played really well and got to the final — then I will have played a lot of golf heading to Ireland.”
Advertisement
Furyk has been coached all his life by his father, Mike, a former club professional, and has been an ever-present on the PGA Tour since he joined in 1994. He has won in eight of his past nine seasons, with his only blip coming in 2004, when he was out for three months after surgery on his left wrist.
And if proof were needed that length off the tee is not everything, then Furyk provides the perfect example. This year, his drives average 280 yards, which is more than 30 yards shorter than Woods, but only six players have better figures when it comes to reaching greens in regulation. Not only that, he has developed into one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, using a distinctive cross-handed style that he adopted as a seven-year-old on advice given to his father by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Not for nothing does he have a scoring average this year of 69.21.
Watching Furyk deep in conversation with Woods at the recent Bridgestone Invitational tournament in Akron, Ohio, it was obvious that he is at ease in the Great One’s company, which is why they will make such a strong pairing at the K Club.
Many players talk about Woods “raising the bar” within the game, but not Furyk. “Before Tiger came along, I worked just as hard as I work now,” he said. “You try to find different things that you can work on in your game by looking at other people, but I’ve always worked hard.”
At his first Masters tournament in 1996, Furyk watched Nick Faldo practising little wedge shots and realised that the Englishman did it better. Now Furyk regards that shot from about 50 yards as his “bread and butter”. If all goes according to plan, it could carry him a long way this week. ‘Before Tiger came along, I worked as hard as I work now’