Furyk hoping to bounce back from US Open setback

Published Jul. 18, 2012 5:49 a.m. ET

foxsports

Majors come around so quickly in golf that a disappointment one month can turn into joyous celebration the next.

That is exactly what Jim Furyk is banking on.

The 32nd-ranked American held a one-shot lead when he reached the turn in the fourth round at last month's U.S. Open in San Francisco, but blew his chances by bogeying three of his final six holes and losing out to Webb Simpson.

Some speculated that, at 42, the 2003 U.S. Open winner may have missed his last shot at a second major title.

Now, he is at a damp Royal Lytham & St. Annes for the British Open, ready to show there's life in him yet.

''I have always had a big drive to succeed and play well and work hard. If I play poorly, it makes me mad and makes me want to do better next time,'' he told The Associated Press at the back of the 18th green after his practice round Tuesday. ''If I play well and come so close, it's disappointing, but I'll work hard either way. At the end of my career, I'm not going to look back and have any regrets.''

Furyk has tended to perform best at the U.S. Open, adding two second places and three more top-five finishes to his victory at Olympia Fields nine years ago.

Lytham this year has the feel of a U.S. Open, a penal rough beside narrow fairways making for some treacherous lies. Furyk even thinks a level-par final score could win it, especially if the wind picks up and the rain that poured down in the northwest English town on Tuesday afternoon stays for the rest of the week.

''It doesn't matter to me, I've done low in both (good and bad conditions),'' he said. ''I've shot 25- and 28-under to win golf tournaments and I've gone around in even par to win golf tournaments. You just adjust to the conditions.

''But it's a wet summer, the rough is very thick, some of it very close to the fairway. You're going to see some unplayable lies, people taking slashes at the ball which won't come out of the rough.''

Furyk played his all-American practice round in a fourball with Lucas Glover, former British Open champion Justin Leonard and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III.

There was little chat about the upcoming match with Europe in Medinah, near Chicago, in September - but it's definitely on Furyk's mind.

He's currently 14th in the U.S. points list, with only the top eight selected automatically. He needs an improvement in form if he isn't to rely on being one of Love III's wild-card picks for what would be an eighth Ryder Cup.

''I have some work to do,'' Furyk said. ''I played a couple of times since the U.S. Open, not particularly well. But I feel all right about my game.''