Could Jim Furyk be considered a favorite this week at The Players Championship, a tournament he has never won?
It seems appropriate to look at the Pennsylvania native who has made his home in the Ponte Vedra Beach area for some time now as a player to watch, but in 19 previous starts at TPC Sawgrass, Furyk’s success has been erratic.
Furyk is a player who doesn’t miss many cuts – 51 since 2000, to be exact. But missing three cuts in The Players Championship over that same period doesn’t seem to bode well for Furyk’s chances in 2015.
Furyk had his best finish in the event last year when he finished second with a closing round of 6-under 66, but it came on the heels of a missed cut in 2013.
“It’s just something that I’ve just never been that comfortable,” Furyk said of Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass. “Kiawah’s never given me a nice comfort zone. New Orleans is not one of my favorite golf courses. And this one, I’ve grown to get used to it and I’ve grown to like it over the years.”
Furyk last played Sawgrass during a March outing just before the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. The time before that was probably his 66 in the final round of last year’s event. Sawgrass, basically, is just not his cup of tea.
“I’ve grown to get used to it and I’ve grown to like it over the years,” Furyk said. “When I first moved here, I’ll be honest with you, I did not like this golf course. I was adamant about it. Didn’t enjoy playing it.”
Furyk might be able to push those negatives to the back burner this week as he comes into Sawgrass with a solid resume for the 2015 season, which includes a victory two weeks ago at the RBC Heritage. It’s the first time since 2010 Furyk has been in such a scenario (he won the 2010 Verizon Heritage two weeks before arriving at TPC Sawgrass).
Furyk’s fourth-place finish at WGC-Cadillac Match Play could just as easily be a precursor to a Players victory as it could be a lead-in to a missed cut or a middle-of-the-pack finish. That’s how inconsistent Furyk’s history is at his now-hometown course.
“As much as I’ve played around here and as many golf tournaments I played here, I know where to put the ball,” Furyk said “I know that there’s ample room. I’m not going to drive it into the little necks and areas I shouldn’t. So there’s ample room to hit the ball. It’s not a place that I’ve really ever been that comfortable.”
