Jim Furyk never has accepted the constrictions of convention.
He wasn’t the top golfer on Arizona’s 1992 national-championship team — but is indisputably the most accomplished pro among that group.
No instructor would teach Furyk’s distinct, looping swing — a motion that has helped him notch 26 professional victories and earn more than $72 million.
Members of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions are asked to limit their social interactions and outings during the coronavirus pandemic. But Furyk gets only so many opportunities to dine at Mi Nidito. As he discussed his return to Tucson for the upcoming Cologuard Classic, he workshopped a plan.
“Maybe some pickup on the way from the airport,” Furyk said. “We’ll see.”
Furyk was speaking via Zoom from The Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California. He made the cut on a PGA Tour event for the second straight week. Last week, Furyk finished in a tie for 21st at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Furyk, who turned 50 last May, still has plenty of game. He led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy (74.5%) and greens in regulation (74.2%) in 2020. But he missed the cut in 7 of 13 events. He ranked 192nd in average driving distance (280.2 yards) and, as he conceded, “didn’t do a good job of getting the ball in the hole.”
Jim Furyk hits from the bunker on No. 9 during his match against Rickie Fowler at the 2014 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain.
The distance disparity isn’t a factor on the PGA Tour Champions. Furyk is one of the young guns on the senior circuit. He won the first two events he participated in as a Champions Tour rookie — The Ally Challenge and the PURE Insurance Championship last summer. His worst finish in seven Champions Tour starts is a tie for 13th.
Furyk — who has 17 PGA Tour victories, including the 2003 U.S. Open — recorded his first career top 10 at Tucson National. He finished tied for seventh in the Northern Telecom Open in 1994, his rookie year on the PGA Tour.
Furyk has played the course countless times. The memories came flooding back when he spoke to the media about his upcoming Cologuard Classic debut. The conversation has been lightly edited for context and clarity.
What do you remember most about winning the national championship in 1992?
A: “Just the team afterwards, just how excited we were. We had a great team my junior year in ’91. Coming down the stretch, I didn’t have a very good year and our team really wasn’t playing all that well and had a poor finish at NCAAs. Coming back, we had ... at least three or four of the five guys that were starting on that team in ’92 and at a golf course in Albuquerque that we knew really well (University of New Mexico Golf Course). We played UNM in some event every year.
“The two best teams in college golf were Arizona and Arizona State. We battled them in regionals and then we battled them in NCAAs. To beat your rival, to beat a team that had Phil Mickelson, who at the time was the best college player in the country ... a lot of good memories.”
Phil won the individual championship that year, but you guys won the team title. Is that something that you’ve brought up to him a time or two over the years?
A: “Well, he won three individual titles, and they also won a team title while he was in school, so I think he’s kind of upped me a little there. It’s tough to really dig in the needle on that one. But it was a great way to end your college career. We were all trying to hone our games. It is an individual sport, but college golf is more about being a team. For me personally ... it was a great way to end school, end my amateur career and go out with a bang.”
Phil committed to playing at the Cologuard Classic. If a Champions Tour event can get him, is that almost like a PGA Tour event getting Tiger Woods?
A: “It has a similar buzz, absolutely. Phil has made it very clear he’s gonna play on the PGA Tour, first and foremost. I haven’t heard it come from the horse’s mouth, but it sounds like he’s gonna sprinkle Champions Tour events in. (Mickelson played in two events last year and won them both.)
“He’s one of the biggest names (in golf). He still pushes the needle on the PGA Tour as a 50-year-old.”
Do you take a different approach on the PGA Tour Champions than you would for a PGA Tour event?
A: “Golf is golf. The biggest difference is a three-round event versus a four. There’s less time. It’s not like a prizefight, where they kind of dance around for the first couple of rounds feeling each other out. It doesn’t work that way on the Champions Tour.
“You need to get off to a good start. Someone’s gonna shoot 15-plus-under every week. If you have a bad nine or a bad 18 holes, it just gives you so much less time to catch up.
“The golf courses for me are fun. They’re not short. We average about 7,000 yards on the Champions Tour. But coming off the PGA Tour, where we see a lot of 7,300, 7,400, 7500, that gives me an opportunity to get some short irons in my hand. It gives me an opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive, to maybe try to make some more birdies. And you have to. It’s kind of a pedal-down mentality.”
Do you consider the Cologuard Classic a home event for you?
A: “I grew up in Pennsylvania. That’ll always be the place I grew up, that’ll be home. I live in Jacksonville. We’re now hosting our own event, so that’ll kind of be the home event. But Tucson will be my second home event. There’s really not a place that we play that I’ve spent as much time as I have in Tucson.
“I’m excited about coming back. I love the golf course. It’s a little bit of a homecoming. I’ll have to make sure I’ve got a little red and blue or something for Sunday’s round.”
Were you looking forward to turning 50 and joining the Champions Tour?
A: “No one’s looking forward to turning 50! I didn’t know what to expect going into the Champions Tour. ... I’m a little bit like a rookie again, trying to learn the golf courses, trying to figure things out.
“Most of my friends (who) turn 50, they go to the Champions Tour and they say this is great. I had a couple that wanted to hang on and play the PGA Tour longer. I’ve really enjoyed it.
“Folks think that on the Champions Tour you go play your 18 holes, and then you head to the locker room and you sit around and have a glass of wine or a beer and tell stories. The driving range is full of guys practicing. The chipping and putting greens are full of guys practicing. The guys are still competitive. They’re still hungry. That’s what we all enjoy.”
You led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and greens in regulation last year but didn’t experience the type of overall success that you’re used to. What do you make of that?
A: “First of all, if I can joke about it, I think the kids out here have to be a little embarrassed. They let an old man beat them in those two categories. Driving accuracy, I’ll give them. But greens in regulation? Come on, man! I’m 50!
“In all seriousness, it gave me some confidence to know that my ball striking was in a good spot. I give up a lot of yardage out here. I may hit a lot of greens, but I’m doing it with a 5- or 6-iron rather than an 8- or 9-iron. You can’t get as aggressive with a 5-iron as you can with an 8-iron. My proximity from 200 yards is really good. But the other guys are hitting from 160, so their proximity is gonna be better.”
Is it good for the sport that there’s such a premium on length?
A: “There’s always been a premium on length. Jack Nicklaus came out when he was younger and dominated. He had the mentality that I’m going to hit wedge from the rough and you’re going to hit 7-iron from the fairway and I’m going to beat you. And he did. He also was maybe the best that ever lived.
“The last thing I want to be is the old, bitter guy that’s hanging on to the Tour and I sound grouchy and I walked to school uphill both ways in the snow. I don’t want to be that guy. There is a different skill set from when I was 22 years old and I left college. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s just different.
“The best players always evolve. You can do whatever you want to the golf course, the conditions, the equipment. But Tiger was still going to be Tiger, and Phil was still going to be Phil, because they’re elite players and they will adapt and find a way.”
