Jim Furyk

 PGA Tour

After his final round of the Cologuard Classic, former Arizona Wildcat Jim Furyk received a few shouts of “Bear Down” from fans sitting at the 18th green at Omni Tucson National Resort.

Playing in his second Cologuard Classic since joining the PGA Tour Champions, Furyk — a former Wildcats star — is one of the more popular golfers in the event. The record for most photos taken didn’t belong to Furyk but to his caddy, Michael “Fluff” Cowan.

Donning a navy blue “Block A” Wildcats hat with a cigarette in hand, the mustachioed “Fluff” — who caddied for Tiger Woods during his 1997 Masters Tournament — took photos with fans while Furyk signed a few golf balls.

“It’s not a revelation. He sees it every week,” Furyk said.

The Furyk-Fluff duo has been together since 1999. Furyk recently downsized his golf bag to accommodate the 74-year-old golf veteran. Last year, Fluff carried Furyk’s green and white Callaway Epic bag. Furyk came to Tucson with a dark gray Vessel bag, which doesn’t weigh as much.

“He’s 74; I’m not trying to kill my caddie, so we decided to go with something light,” Furyk said. “People know who I am, I don’t need a big bag anyway.”

Furyk finished the Cologuard Classic tied for 25th on the leaderboard after shooting 4-under par over three days, including back-to-back 69 rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Furyk was 2-over heading into the weekend.

Furyk bogeyed the par-3 14th hole on Friday, but only bogeyed twice more the rest of the tournament.

“The weekend was pretty solid. I just got off to a bad start on Friday. I went a couple over par and once that happens, it’s so hard to catch up in a three-round event, but I saw some good things happen on the weekend,” he said. “I drove the ball a lot better and left some putts out there this afternoon, but I was a lot happier about the way I played.”

Furyk tallied four birdies on Sunday, including three on the first nine holes.

“Coming in I was really struggling, so being on familiar ground — and this is a place that I’ve played a lot of golf — probably helped my comfort level and I feel like I turned towards the positive this week and got things moving forward and hit the ball solid,” he said

Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Cologuard Classic and the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii last month.

“We’ll be chasing him for a while,” Furyk said. “He’s a heck of a player and I’ve played a lot of golf with him here in the last 12 months. He’s just consistent. He hits the ball solid, hits a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and he’s going to be tough to catch.”

Spectators get an overview of the course along Hole No. 7 during the final round of the Cologuard Classic.

Mediate ties Cologuard Classic record on final day

Nobody had a better finish than Rocco Mediate.

The 59-year-old shot a 9-under 63 to end the Cologuard Classic, which tied Steve Stricker (2016) and Jim Carter (2017) for the best single-round score at the event. When Stricker and Carter set the record, the Cologuard Classic was a par-73 tournament, so their scores were 10-under.

Mediate climbed 39 spots up the leaderboard to finish tied for 13th place. South Africa’s Ernie Els shot 8-under on Sunday, moved up 38 spots from his opening round of 74.

Jimenez aces — twice

Bernhard Langer, winner of the 2020 Cologuard Classic, wrapped up his weekend in Tucson with a final-round 65 — good for a second-place tie with Woody Austin.

“I almost shot my age, but Jimenez was too good this week," the 65-year-old Langer said. "He had a nice lead going into (Sunday) and he’s on fire again. He’s a great player and we were basically battling it out for second between Woody Austin and myself.”

Jimenez had two holes-in-one during the tournament. He aced the 196-yard seventh hole on Friday and the 188-yard 14th hole on Sunday. Jimenez used a 6-iron for both aces.

“That’s unheard of,” Langer said. “No wonder he’s 18 under.”

Jimenez now has 13 career aces, including 10 from the European Tour and one at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

The big number

$40,000

Money donated to support colorectal cancer screening in Tucson. For every yard that landed on the fairway of the 18th hole, a dollar was donated to colorectal cancer testing in the Old Pueblo. Austin’s final tee shot on Sunday exceeded the goal, which was capped at $40,000.

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Contact sports producer Justin Spears at 573-4312 or jspears@tucson.com. On Twitter: @JustinESports