Pennsylvania native Jim Furyk has won a major, a FedEx Cup, shot 59, and a 58. He’s played on Ryder and President Cup teams and even captained the last U.S. Ryder Cup team in Paris.
You know all that, of course, but do you know his pet peeve? Do you know who was his childhood hero or his favorite quotation? How about the best shot he’s ever seen a player hit or the adventure that most impacted his life?
Didn’t think so. Well, read on, because you’re about to find out.
Golfweek: Golf is a game that you never perfect, but sometimes it feels like you can rent it for a while. When have you felt most like you owned your game?
Furyk: I go back to my best years. I was feeling pretty good in 2003, 2006 and 2010. Those are the times I had long extended periods of time that I played really well. I guess I rented it for long periods of times. Those are the years I won the most and had the best opportunities. 2010 was my best year but I had a long, extended period of time in 2006 when I was feeling it. There was just a guy named Tiger up there too.
Golfweek: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Furyk: When reporters that I’ve never met before don’t introduce themselves. I will usually stop them and ask their name and who they work for and say, “Great, it’s nice to meet you. What do you need?” I’m doing it genuinely, not to be a smart ass. I just want to know those basics and then go from there.
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1245437542675017728
GW: Thomas Bjorn got a tattoo after his team won the Ryder Cup. If you had to get one, what would it be and where would you put it?
Furyk: If you made me, it would be something of my family — initials or something. It wouldn’t be visible.
GW: You famously overslept and missed your tee time for your pro-am round at The Barclays in 2010 and were disqualified from the tournament. When’s the last time you overslept?
Furyk: I do like to sleep. I’m not as good at it as I used to be. That’s the last time I overslept and missed something important.
GW: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Furyk: In golf terms, I’ll go with (PGA Tour) Player of the Year in 2010.
GW: What’s your favorite quotation?
Furyk: Vince Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing.” It was my senior high school yearbook quote.
GW: What’s the best nickname in golf?
Furyk: Gotta go with Fluff.
GW: What golf course would you like to see preserved so the PGA Tour is still playing it in 50 years?
Furyk: Harbour Town (host of the RBC Heritage). It’s so different than anything we play now. It will be way different than what they’ll be playing in 50 years the way equipment is going. It’s not very long, not a lot of rough, but if you happen to catch a little breeze out there, 8-to-12 under could win the tournament. You better hit it good and be able to control the golf ball. You need every shot around the green too. It’s a cool course and my favorite one that we play.
GW: What advice would you give to your younger self?
Furyk: Learn to be more efficient in practice and to practice with more of a purpose.
GW: What adventure most changed your life?
Furyk: I’d say Q-School, 1993. I got through (chuckles). It was in Palm Springs and I made the four-round cut and six-round cut on the number. A lot of stress. I actually made a 15-footer in the fourth round to make it on the number and I didn’t realize I had to hole it. I thought I could 2-putt and be safe. It was a fast, downhill putt and I was just trying not to hit it 4 feet by and knocked it in. I was the first group off of No. 10 in the sixth round so I was on the outside looking in and shot 69, I think (Editor’s Note: he did!) and had to wait and sit on it for 2+ hours to find out if I was going to make the top 40.
GW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Furyk: Mexican food or beer (I’m a Yuengling guy). When they’re both together is even better.
GW: Who were your heroes growing up?
Furyk: Terry Bradshaw. Die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I’d have to go through a list of Steeler players. Jack Lambert. Probably Bradshaw most of all, I always wanted to be a quarterback. In golf, Nicklaus and as a kid I was a big Fred Couples and Greg Norman fan. As I got older, Byron Nelson, who I got to meet, be around a number of times and talk to. He was a hero.
GW: When did the dream of being a QB die?
Furyk: I signed up to play high school football in ninth grade and was all set to go to practice, but that summer I played in a bunch of tournaments in Philadelphia and I won six of them. I decided I was going to go out for the golf team instead. It just seemed to make sense. Golf was coming relatively easy to me and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I quit baseball the next year. Winter was my off-season so I played basketball the whole way through.
GW: What is the greatest shot you’ve seen another golfer make?
Furyk: I was playing a Presidents Cup with Tiger as my partner. The 8th hole at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is a downhill par 3 with an L-shaped green and the pin was in the back-left corner, a real small area there over a bunker. The greens were really firm so you couldn’t stop it and you had to be so precise. We had the tee and I led off. I hit a 5-iron pretty flush and it took a big hop and rolled through the fringe like an inch. I had about 25 feet to the hole and a really easy bump and run or putt. It was a good solid shot. It freed Tiger up and he took a 6-iron, aimed left and hit a cut to a back-left pin and held it up against the wind. It landed 2 feet from the pin took a little bounce and spun to about 3 feet. Did I mention this green was brick-firm? It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. I knew exactly what was going through our opponent’s mind. The best they are going to do is 25 feet and my partner just stuck it to 3 feet. I’m not sure there is anyone else on the planet who could’ve done that. I just remember thinking: No wonder he’s so damn good.