Furyk: Let sleeping tigers lie
DUBLIN, Ohio – It was an odd question to ask a guy who had just spun his wheels for six holes and had come up short again, this being Jim Furyk, second to Tiger Woods in the Memorial Tournament Sunday. To paraphrase a convoluted question: Woods wasn’t himself at the Quail Hollow and the Players Championship (coming back from the knee surgery, of course), so was he vulnerable?
“I wish you’d all quit [waking him up, to coin another paraphrase],” Furyk said, dead-pan but perhaps being lighthearted. “Wish you’d just quit chapping him so much and make him come back and keep proving stuff.
“You know, Tiger Woods is always Tiger Woods. He can’t be 100 percent every week, but I’m sure he answered a lot of questions today.”
Furyk shot a good 3-under-par 69 but couldn’t get unstuck from making only pars for six holes on the back nine when something better was needed. He finished second by a shot when Woods closed with two birdies. Still, Furyk did OK as the runnerup fo
r the 21st time in his 400 career starts, picking up $648,000 and topping $2.1 million without winning so far in this young season.
FURYK ON FURYK – “It sucks, finishing second,” he said. “If I had to go back, there were probably two shots I immediately regret. I played hard today. I hit the ball really well. I’m actually proud of the way I played.” The regrettable shots: A stray drive at No. 9, leaving him to chip out and costing him a bogey, and a too-hard short putt at the par-5 15th, costing him a par when he should have had a birdie.
AN EAGLE FOR BYRD – Jonathan Byrd immediately jumped into the race with both feet with that eagle at the par-5 7th, when his wedge from 81 yards hit about 10 past and spun back into the cup. That put him into the lead at 11 under. After that, how was your day? someone wondered.
“Not so much after the eagle,” Byrd said. “But when I birdied 12 to get to 12 under, I felt pretty darn good.” Then a bogey at the 13th was irksome, and a double bogey at the short, par-4 14th – “That hurt, that stung.” But he wasn’t done yet. He birdied the 15th and was tied for the lead, then chopped up the 18th for another double bogey, shot 72 and tied for third.
BALLESTEROS HONOREE – Seve Ballesteros, the flamboyant Spaniard who brought fire and dash to th
e game and who is now fighting brain cancer, has been named the Memorial Tournament’s honoree for 2010.
Ballesteros turned pro in 1974 at age 16, and burst on the world scene when he nearly won the 1976 British Open, tying for second. He went on to win 50 times around the world, including three British Opens and two Masters. He also was the European Ryder Cup captain eight times. He has undergone four surgeries for brain cancer.
QUICK SHOTS – The Memorial has now gone since 1992 without a playoff, the longest active stretch on the PGA Tour … Luke Donald, who led the first round with a 64, tied for 14th … three-time Kenny Perry made his 16th straight Memorial cut, one behind leader Scott Hoch; Perry shot two rounds at par or better to take second on the tournament’s all-time list with 51 rounds at par or better (behind Jay Haas’ 68) …
2008 British Amateur champ Reinier Saxton tied for 53rd, well behind the best-ever finish by an amateur, Jim Holtgrieve’s tie for 35th.
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