Courtesy of Getty Images, PGATOUR.COM
Poetic Justice… That’s what I call it anyway. How else could you figure that the guy who took his pro-am DQ on the chin a few weeks back would be the same guy who would capture the moment of the season by winning it all Sunday afternoon? Fitting. Only fitting.
Jim Furyk doesn’t have impressive length off the tee, and he’s not hitting 4 irons on 230yd par3’s. He doesn’t have a stylish swing with a fancy club twirl at the end, and his Ichabod Crane physique doesn’t exactly command the respect as that of a Camillo Villegas. But he does have something going for him that a lot of other players on tour do not: He is the consummate grinder, and when the conditions get the toughest, he’s the ultimate mudder.
It was a pleasure watching Furyk manage his game and the conditions Sunday afternoon, in what had to be one of the greatest tournament performances of his career when you consider what was at stake. As the skies opened up and the rains soaked anything and everything, Jim Furyk did what Jim Furyk does best: He grinds. He finds a way to turn a potential double bogey into a bogey, and a bogey into a par. And in closely contested tournaments, in the most tense of tournament conditions, that has a way of covering a multitude of sins. Furyk didn’t play flawless golf this past week, but he played flawless when he needed to. That was essentially the difference.
Jim’s impressive victory this past weekend accomplished two significant things. Number one – it should have locked up the tour’s POTY honors. In a season that was essentially void of the world’s top 2 players for the most part and begging for someone to stand up and represent – no one brought more to the tour this season than Jim Furyk. The other significant thing: He most likely bought the current format of the FedEx Cup system another season or two without undergoing another major tweakage. Had Luke Donald won the $10 million prize without winning the tournament Sunday, and without having won a single tournament on tour the entire season – I think it would’ve forced the tour to reevaluate the “volatility” part of the system that they have obviously overcooked. Furyk’s clutch play, in due part, played a role in that not happening, and might’ve saved a peculiar ending from happening to what has otherwise been a rather exciting playoff season. And one final thought to consider: Does Furyk’s bunker shot on the final hole at East Lake qualify for the most impressive shot of the year? I think the argument could certainly be made. Given the situation and the circumstances, it gets my vote.
Scott's Golf Blog 