Tag: Boo Weekley

Ernie Els, Boo Weekley, other pros swing like Jim Furyk, explain why it works

Jim Furyk rode his unique swing to 17 PGA Tour wins and $71 million in career earnings.

He’s long had one of the more unusual swings in pro golf.

But players are rare to knock it because Jim Furyk made his unique approach to ballstriking work, his 17 PGA Tour wins and $71 million in career earnings are all the evidence you need.

This week, the three-time PGA Tour Champions winner is hosting his Furyk & Friends event on the senior circuit in Jacksonville, Florida. In advance of the event, some of his fellow pros talked about his swing, tried their best to recreate it and ultimately they all had nothing but praise for him.

“Just because it didn’t look like everything else doesn’t mean it doesn’t work,” said Rocco Mediate, who stressed Furyk was consistently getting the club in the right spot at impact.

The smooth-hitting Ernie Els tried to mimic Furyk’s signature move but the Big Easy’s swing is so buttery, he couldn’t quite contort himself enough to pull it off.

The funniest explanation, though, came through the thick Southern drawl of Boo Weekley.

Boo Weekley is loving life on PGA Tour Champions and talking a good game

“I never thought I’d make it this far in my career anyway … It’s still unreal to be out here playing.”

Boo Weekley turned 50 on July 23 and is scheduled to make his fourth start on PGA Tour Champions this week in St. Louis at the Ascension Charity Classic.

Weekely won three times on the PGA Tour and represented the victorious Team USA in the 2008 Ryder Cup. But in recent years, he has dealt with a series of injuries and has been a non-factor in professional golf.

Weekley made 319 starts on the PGA Tour and earned more than $15 million during his career. Turning 50 is golf’s greatest mulligan and he’s trying to cash in. But so far, Weekley has discovered these guys are still good on the senior circuit: he’s finished T-65, T-47 and T-48 in his first three starts.

Weekley, who played his college golf at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, remains one of golf’s great characters and his press conferences remain a breath of fresh air. Here’s some of the words of wisdom from Boo, the pride of Milton, Florida.

Drivers used by top 10 PGA Tour golfers in strokes gained off the tee

See which clubs the PGA Tour’s best drivers are using off the tee to maximize distance and accuracy.

It all starts with the tee shot. Modern professional golfers attack holes right from the start using a combination of power and accuracy in an attempt to create easier approach shots and scoring chances.

The U.S. Golf Association and the R&A have determined that distance is playing too large a role in golf, and the game’s governing bodies are researching what should be done to stop the trends of players hitting the ball farther and courses growing longer. While they investigate various options, pros continue to grip it and rip it.

No one drives the ball better than the 10 players listed below, the leaders in strokes gained off the tee in the 2019-20 PGA Tour season. See which clubs they use to gain an edge over the competition.

A strokes gained average of 0.5 means a player gains half a shot against the field average. So a player with a strokes gained off the tee of 0.5 would be two shots better than average over the span of a four-day tournament.

Boo Weekley
Boo Weekley (Lee Coleman/Getty Images)

10. Boo Weekley, 0.655

DRIVER: Callaway Epic Flash (9 degrees), with Project X EvenFlow Black shaft

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10

Irons used by PGA Tour players ranked in the top 10 in strokes gained approach the green

See a complete list of the irons used by the best ballstrikers on the PGA Tour in 2020.

The offseason, such as it was, is long over and the West Coast Swing is now in the rearview mirror too. These days, most of golf’s best players are in Florida, honing their games and getting ready for the Players Championship and the season’s first major, the Masters, which is just a month away.

While there has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about distance, solid iron play is always critical for success. The players listed below all rank in the top 10 in strokes gained approach the green, which means, statisically, they have been the best irons players this season on the PGA Tour. The number listed next to their names is their strokes gained approach the green average. If a player averages a one, that means he is one shot better than the field average on Tour, meaning he would pick up four shots against the field – based solely on his iron play – during a 72-hole event.

See who they are and the clubs they use.

Paul Casey's Mizuno irons
Paul Casey’s Mizuno irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)

10. Paul Casey, 0.905

IRONS: Mizuno MP-25 (3), Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro (4), Mizuno MP-5 (5-PW), with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 TX shafts

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10