Tag: Furyk and Friends

Here’s how old buddies Jim Furyk and Davis Love III are now sharing tournament secrets

Neither event is a major force, but they lend themselves to a more laid-back, casual atmosphere.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two tournaments less than 90 miles apart have developed a sort of symbiotic relationship, mostly due to the friendship of the two hosts.

They’re on different tours with a different demographic of players and for different stakes. But they have a few things in common: they’re hosted by two of the top PGA Tour players of their generation, the old-school courses and clubhouses offer breathtaking water views and they’re all about the fan experience.

This week’s Constellation Furyk & Friends, which began on Friday, is a PGA Tour Champions event at the Timuquana Country Club. It’s in its third year and last December was voted the best tournament experience of the year by the Champions Tour membership. The tournament is hosted by Jim Furyk, a 17-time PGA Tour winner and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, and his wife Tabitha.

Forty days after the final putt on Sunday, the 14th RSM Classic will tee off at the Sea Island Club on St. Simons Island, Ga., on Nov. 16. It’s a PGA Tour event that began in 2010 and has quickly become a staple of the fall schedule. World Golf Hall of Fame member Davis Love III, who won the 1992 and 2003 Players Championships and the 1997 PGA, among 21 PGA Tour titles, is the host.

Neither event is a major force in worldwide golf. But because of that, they perhaps lend themselves to a more laid-back, casual atmosphere that appeals to some players who have been through the wringer this season with major championships, the FedEx Cup and international match play events.

Schwab Cup and FedEx Fall

The Furyk & Friends does come with a certain late-season cachet: the PGA Tour Champions Schwab Cup race has only two tournaments left for players to get among the top 72 for the Schwab Cup playoffs. But the stars, such as defending Furyk champion Steve Stricker, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer, Stephen Ames and Steven Alker are secure and the fight is at the bottom end.

For the record, the tournament host is the bubble boy at No. 72, with a scant $2,037 lead over Jason Bohn.

The RSM Classic is the final event of “FedEx Cup Fall,” a new competitive format for the PGA Tour in which players who finished outside the top 70 (which qualified them for the FedEx Cup playoffs) have seven tournaments to earn points to stay among the top 125 and keep their PGA Tour card for 2024.

Jim Furyk, Mike "Fluff" Cowan
Tournament host Jim Furyk talks with caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan ahead of the 2021 Constellation Furyk & Friends at the Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. Photo by Bob Self/Florida Times-Union

Tournaments share best practices

Love said the tournaments have something else in common: they borrow ideas freely from each other — with never a hard feeling — and go after experienced tournament organizers.

“Jim obviously saw us pop out of the ground as a really well-run tournament because we went and stole from people like [Quail Hollow Club president] Johnny Harris and the PGA Tour and we jumped right in with good operations,” Love said. “So, Jim and Tab did the same thing, they went and found the right people [such as tournament director Adam Renfroe, who ran the Web.com Tour Championship]. Obviously being here in town with the support of the Tour is very helpful.”

Furyk has no problem crediting the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions with helping the tournament evolve from his two-day pro-am at the Sawgrass Country Club between 2010-2020 to the Champions Tour schedule.

“Having [PGA Tour commissioner] Jay Monahan and [Champions Tour president] Miller Brady give us the stamp of approval and let us go out there and find Constellation and Timuquana has been wonderful,” Furyk said. “It seems like a big mountain to climb but it goes by so fast … we have a lot of fun with it. It’s a labor of love and I’m really proud of Tab and our team. We have a very small team but they work really hard all year.”

The Furyk & Friends has a staff of six people, including Renfroe and Tabitha Furyk.

Love’s structure at the RSM Classic is similar. His brother Mark is the executive director and his daughter Lexie Whatley is the event and merchandise manager. The tournament staff consists of 10 people but Love not only plays but has been seen vacuuming the merchandise tent floor to help his daughter close each night.

Both tournaments have been tireless in raising money for charity. The RSM Classic has raised more than $35 million in charity in the first 13 years and Furyk & Friends has raised more than $2.5 million in its first two.

2022 Constellation Furyk & Friends
Jim Furyk, wife Tabitha Furyk, Nicki Stricker and Steve Stricker celebrate with the trophy after Steve Stricker won the 2022 Constellation Furyk & Friends at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Fun outside the ropes

Then there are the activities for fans outside the ropes. Both have numerous hospitality venues, both private and public and being in the fall, neither tries to fight the pull of college football and the NFL.

A large courtyard behind the 18th green at Sea Island has huge TVs that are tuned into the games of the day on Saturday and Sunday, as well as the golf. There is also a sports bar-like venue on the back nine of the Seaside Course.

The Public Tailgate Village at Furyk & Friends offers multiple TVs to keep up with the games and it’s opening early on Sunday for Jaguars fans to watch the game against the Buffalo Bills in London.

There’s also the Kid Zone, with a petting zoo and playground equipment. And if kids want to climb one of Timuquana’s stately trees, no one’s going to stop them.

“Now I want to copy what they’re doing,” Love said. “They sell more than us, they build a lot more than us. It’s incredible. In the pro-am, I was just counting skyboxes and tents and venues. Shoot, my granddaughters want to come back because of the Kid Zone they played in last year. Little things like that, every tournament goes and looks at other tournaments and sees the successes. So we’re definitely doing that with Jim and Tab.”

Both tournaments have concerts. Both have highly successful pro-ams. And both take good care of the players.

Listening to the players

“We’ve all played many, many tournaments on the PGA Tour and around the world, so you know what works,” Ernie Els said. “They [Furyk and his wife] listen to the players. They listened to the players through the first couple of years and went from there. From day one it’s just been a fabulous experience. The venue helps so much, too. Everything works.”

Players and their families on the PGA Tour also enjoy the RSM Classic for its venue and atmosphere: in the heart of the Golden Isles, at a historic resort.

“It gets better by the year,” Zach Johnson said last year. “The community rallies behind it every year. Everybody’s just excited for RSM week. It’s a perfect synergy between the Tour, Sea Island, RSM and stewardship. That’s what the Tour’s all about.”

Furyk said the key is to give hard-core golf fans what they want, and a party atmosphere for people who are only casual fans.

“It’s really just about bringing people out,” he said. “The golf tournament itself is the vehicle.”

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Vandals damage five greens a day before the start of PGA Tour Champions event in Florida

The Constellation Furyk & Friends was in crisis mode around 4 a.m. on Thursday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Constellation Furyk & Friends was in crisis mode around 4 a.m. on Thursday.

The issue was solved before noon due to the efforts of the tournament and Timuquana Country Club staffs and outside help from the TPC Sawgrass agronomy staff and Maccurrach Golf Construction.

Four greens on the course and one practice green were damaged in the early morning hours on Thursday by vandals wielding tools believed to be shovels or hoes.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating and the PGA Tour Champions event, which will be played for the third year, will start as scheduled on Friday at 9:20 a.m.

“Obviously disappointing but the story of the day is the team effort and everyone being able to pivot,” said tournament host Jim Furyk.

Greens still have room for pins

The 10th, 12th, 16th and 17th greens had huge gouges taken out of them. The damage was discovered about 3 a.m. by a member of the Timuquana agronomy staff, who began arriving between that hour and 4 a.m. to begin preparing the course for the Thursday pro-am.

Timuquana superintendent Alan Brown, who had around 20 workers at his disposal, made a few phone calls. Within an hour, his counterpart at the TPC Sawgrass, Jeff Plots, and Maccurrach Golf owner Alan Maccurrach’s son Sonny arrived with another two dozen workers and by late morning the damage had been patched with sod.

The Thursday pro-am groups could not play the holes and played a 14-hole tournament. Additional work may be done overnight and before the first shots are struck at 9:20 a.m.

“The folks [pro-am players] come out to support us and they pay good money to come out to support us,” Furyk said. “That money goes to charity and at the end of the day, they were super, super-understanding. No one was feeling bad for themselves. They felt bad for the tournament and the club and what they went through but they went out and had a great day. They pivoted too and we’re very appreciative for that.”

It didn’t take long for the crews from the TPC Sawgrass and MacCurracch Golf (located on the Northside) to get to Timuquana.

“MacCurrach, they’re just across the river so luckily you’ve got a great crew that’s been through a couple of renovations, and you’ve got a great crew from the TPC Sawgrass,” said Davis Love III. “So they’ll get it. The sponsors are going to have a great time, business as usual … it’s just going to look bad on a couple of holes.”

Another player in the field, Jeff Sluman, was surveying the damage on the greens and said the grounds crews and rules officials are fortunate that there are areas of the damaged green that still give them three pins for the three tournament rounds.

“It looks like they’re not going to interrupt anything,” Sluman said.

Furyk, Els praise repairs

Ernie Els, who played the morning pro-am after seeing videos of the damage, called the work by the combined crews, “amazing … they’ve done a hell of a job.”

“It was really bad,” Els said of the damage. “They really went in there. Someone was really, very angry, obviously. For them [the work crews] to do what they’ve done already is really amazing. The tournament will continue and it will be a success.”

Furyk said Brown’s agronomy staff at Timuquana has had to deal with a different issue every year. There was a deluge that interrupted the first round in 2021 and repairs were needed after Hurricane Ian brushed the area last year.

PGA Tour Champions player Jeff Sluman surveys the damage done to the 16th green of the Timuquana Country Club by vandals. Four greens on the course and one practice green were vandalized by what is believed to be a tool such as a shovel or hoe. (Photo: Garry Smits/Florida Times-Union)

“I’ve been singing the praises of Alan Brown and his staff for three years,” Furyk said. “They’ve done an amazing job. And this morning they made some phone calls and everyone came running.”

PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady said the joint effort will result in another successful tournament, in its third year.

“PGA Tour Champions Rules and Competitions have been working with the tournament team and the outstanding Timuquana Country Club staff to repair the damages to the course,” he said in a statement. “Thanks to their efforts, we will have the course ready for the first round of competition tomorrow morning. We encourage everyone in the Jacksonville community to come out and support this great event and the charitable work of Jim and Tabitha Furyk throughout Northeast Florida.”

Furyk & Friends first round will start as scheduled

Tournament director Adam Renfroe said the vandalism hasn’t deterred the staff’s preparation for the first round of competition.

“What took place is unfortunate, as we want to represent the best of Jacksonville with this tournament,” he said in a statement. “We won’t let the actions of a few individuals take away from a great week for our city and our ability to give back and create impact here in the community. We appreciate the swift action taken by the PGA Tour Champions team to make sure the course is ready for the start of the competition and look forward to fans joining us at Timuquana Country Club this weekend.”

Love was in agreement from a player’s perspective.

“The mission of this tournament isn’t going to slow down,” he said. “Tab and Jim do a great job with everything they’ve done. I just hate it for the guys with the shovels and the sod cutters because they’re going to have a long day and probably a long night.”[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=451196875]

Phil Mickelson: ‘On the regular tour, there’s so many new, young, fresh players, I don’t know who two-thirds of them are’

While Lefty is enjoying the PGA Tour Champions, maybe he’s less familiar with some of the golfers on the PGA Tour.

Phil Mickelson certainly sounds like he’s enjoying the PGA Tour Champions – winning three of the four events he has entered helps that. His latest victory came Sunday in Jacksonville, Florida, in the Constellation Furyk and Friends.

But it’s not just about the winning. The 51-year-old prefers the aggressive nature he can display on the senior circuit, and he said he’s having a good time playing with guys he knows better while he’s less familiar with the up-and-coming golfers on the PGA Tour.

“I don’t feel like there are tournaments on the regular tour that are really exciting me to get out and play, so it’s fun for me to get out here and work on a few things that I’m trying to improve on and play with guys that I know. I know all these guys here,” he said Sunday after winning at Timuquana Country Club .

A four-hour delay during Friday’s first round at Timuquana sent everyone inside.

“With that rain delay, I go into the locker room and everybody in there I know, whereas on the regular tour there’s so many new, young, fresh players, I don’t know who two-thirds of them are.”

Jim Furyk became the second golfer to win his first two times out on the senior circuit last year. It didn’t take long for Mickelson to become the third. Now he has three wins in four outings and more than $750,000 in earnings.

“It’s a good start. I’m having fun, I’m having fun playing here. I’m enjoying being around the guys, I’m enjoying the golf courses, how I can be a little bit more aggressive and like when I made a mistake on No. 5, I can still recover. You do that on the regular tour, you just get eaten alive. You just can’t make those mistakes there and have a chance to compete and contend and win. So I like how you don’t have to be perfect and I can get away with a shot or two here or there, so it makes it fun to play and play aggressive.”

Make no mistake: Mickelson is not declaring that he won’t play the PGA Tour from now on. After all, he is the reigning PGA Championship winner.

“I think if I can play well in tournaments on the regular tour and compete and maybe win a time or two like at the PGA and have some credibility when I come out here, I think that would be a good thing because it shows how high a level of performance goes on out here on the Champions Tour,” he said. “If I can continue to stay up in the world rankings and compete in some regular Tour events, when I do come out here, I hope to help out.”

Mickelson’s next PGA Tour Champions event will be Oct. 22-24 at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia, when the PGA Tour will be at the Zozo Championship in Japan. He then most likely will play the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Nov. 11-14 in Phoenix, the same week as the PGA Tour’s Houston Open, which Mickelson chose to play in 2020 because it was the week before the pandemic-delayed Masters.

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Bernhard Langer is motivated by his love of golf, desire for more success as he chases Hale Irwin’s win record

“People say, ‘you’re a perfectionist.’ I disagree because you’re never going to achieve that. But I love the process.”

Bernhard Langer dislikes a couple of public perceptions of him as having a methodical, A-to-B golf game and an impenetrable, cold personality.

In regards to the former, he merely points out that any player who has won two Masters, four Senior Opens and sports a winning record in 10 Ryder Cups has imagination and creativity.

As far as the latter, well, who was that guy in a fake beard and wig, running around the Timuquana Country Club during Wednesday’s Constellation Furyk & Friends pro-am rounds, pretending to be a course maintenance worker (moving tee markers around) or a member of the media, depending on which of his fellow players he encountered?

None other than Langer, who said he just got the bug to put on a disguise and act silly.

More: Furyk & Friends notebook: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker brings some hardware to Duval

More: Four feature groups highlight first-round of PGA Tour Champions Constellation Furyk & Friends

“It’s fun,” he said on Thursday before the second pro-am Furyk & Friends, which begins on Friday. “Some people think of me as this stoic, focused German and they don’t really know me. I like to laugh, I like to have fun. I have a personality that’s different from that. On the golf course I’m very focused and intense because it’s my job and I’m trying to win and do well. There’s another side of me that likes to have a good laugh.”

Indeed, Padraig Harrington said one of his enduring memories of the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, where Langer captained the European team to a one-sided rout of the U.S., was discovering Langer’s sense of humor in the team room.

“Probably the most surprising thing about his captaincy is his sense of humor because he comes across as being very straight,” Harrington said. “But he had a great sense of humor that week. It was the one thing that jumped out that week that you didn’t know about.”

Langer chasing Hale Irwin

Langer also has been laughing all the way to the bank since joining the PGA Tour Champions in 2007. He won and had four top-10 finishes in five starts that year, won three in 2008 and hasn’t stopped yet. Langer has won 41 times on the senior circuit, four short of Hale Irwin’s record, and holds the record with 11 PGA Tour Champions majors, including four Senior Open titles and three Senior Players Championships.

Langer has been voted player of the year eight times, won 10 money titles and enters this week No. 1 on the Charles Schwab Cup points list, bidding for a record sixth Schwab Cup in a row.

Just for good measure, he shot his age of 64 in August, at the Ally Challenge — on his birthday.

All of that was after Langer carved out a career that was good enough to earn induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001: 42 European PGA Tour titles, second all-time, two Order or Merits, a 21-15-6 record in the Ryder Cup and his Masters titles in 1985 and 1993.

South Bend Tribune

In his 15th season on the PGA Tour Champions (all with longtime caddie Terry Holt of Ponte Vedra Beach), Langer said it’s getting harder to win. He has one victory in the merged 2020-21 season but is always lurking late Sunday, with 21 top-10s in 29 starts, and six in his last 10 starts.

With a trim waistline, an unlined face that looks 20 years younger and seemingly boundless energy, Langer shows no signs of slowing down.

I’ve always said that there are three major things [to keep him playing],” he said. “If I’m healthy enough to do, if I still love the game and if I’m successful. If one of those three is missing, or two, maybe it’s time to think about [retiring] Right now, I’m still reasonably healthy, I love what I’m doing and I’m still successful.”

Fellow pros praise Langer

Langer’s peers remain in awe of his longevity.

“It’s incredible … it’s one of those true incredible stories in golf, really,” said Ernie Els. “To do what he’s done and at 64 he’s leading the Charles Schwab Cup again, think about it … 64, you know? You’ve still got to practice and keep your game sharp, you’ve got to travel, you’ve got to get the body going. He plays like a young man and he’s got that desire still, which is incredible.”

Harrington said Langer survives and thrives because of his iron and wedge game, his boundless energy and his competitive heat.

He said he watched Langer practice at the PNC Father-Son one year (which Langer has won three times, two with his son Jason and one with his other son Stefan) and marveled at the shots Langer rained down on one flag from wedge distance.

“Just his personality, his nature,” Harrington said. “Obviously he’s physically very fit, always has been. If you stand behind him on the range, you know why he’s that good. From like 140 yards, if you watch any of those short flags out there, his ball just comes down all over it. He’s particularly good and you can see why he is competitive out here. One good wedge shot always equals a good drive anywhere. You can see Bernhard from 7-iron down is really good and he’s solid everywhere else.”

Chasing perfection

Langer said one reason he keeps grinding is the drive to master a game no one really does … and he admits it.

That doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying.

“It can be brutal … it can bring you back down,” he said. “It’s a very humbling game. You play great one day, you think you’ve got it and the next day it brings you right back down to earth. You never will achieve perfection. People say, ‘you’re a perfectionist.’ I disagree because you’re never going to achieve that. But I love the process.”

He should have a great chance this week at Timuquana, which plays right into Langer’s deadly combination of precision and imagination on the Donald Ross design.

Golf, food, music and community: Constellation Furyk & Friends offers something for everyone

“It’s in great shape … a beautiful spot,” he said of the course. “I enjoy most Donald Ross courses. His trademark are greens that slope back to front and fall off everywhere. You have to be very precise and think your way around it. You can’t attack every flag you look at and hope to get away with it.”

Langer said Irwin’s record is in his sights — even though he believed at one point that it was unbreakable.

He might have caught Irwin by now but has lost five playoffs in the last four years.

“To win 45 times in a few years is fantastic,” he said. “I thought it was never going to be broken. It may still never be broken. I haven’t given up on it yet but it’s getting harder.”

But Langer will keep coming back to the golf course until his passion and body run out. Don’t count on either any time soon.

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How is Phil Mickelson the first reigning major winner to play PGA Tour Champions? ‘It’s just math.’

Mickelson has played Timuquana once in the past, a round set up by long-time friend and attorney Glenn Cohen which included Tim Tebow.

Phil Mickelson will make some more history this week when he tees it up in the PGA Tour Champion’s Constellation Furyk & Friends.

The six-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member will become the first reigning major winner to play in a PGA Tour Champions event.

But Mickelson said this was by default after winning the PGA Championship last May at Kiawah Island.

“It’s just math,” Mickelson said on Wednesday after playing in the first of two tournament pro-ams at the Timuquana Country Club. “Nobody in their 50s has won a major [before him].”

Since Julius Boros had been the oldest player to win a major before Mickelson, at 48 — and since Champions Tour eligibility starts at 50 — Mickelson’s point was that he didn’t have to do anything, except show up.

But he’s here, heading an all-star field of past PGA Tour and international stars who came running largely because of two factors: the historic Donald Ross course and the respect they have for tournament host Jim Furyk and his wife Tabitha, whose foundation is running the tournament.

“Basically because of Jim Furyk, because what a quality guy he is,” Mickelson said. “He and Tabitha had done an amazing job of getting a new tournament and making it unique and making it special. It’s fun for me to be a part of it and support them.”

Mickelson is playing on the Champions Tour for the first time since February and for the fourth time overall. He played twice last year, winning both, to get his Champions Tour phase off to a running start.

The fact that he won a major this year in the best indication as to why Mickelson is only playing his first Champions event of the calendar year: he’s still competitive on the PGA Tour. Mickelson finished 70th on the FedEx Cup points list last season, is currently 64th on the world golf rankings and is coming off a tie for 36th in the Fortinet Championship two weeks ago.

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Mickelson has played Timuquana once in the past, a round set up by long-time friend and attorney Glenn Cohen which included Tim Tebow. Mickelson loves the history and the challenges offered by the course.

“I love Donald Ross courses,” he said. “I think they’re terrific and this one’s no different. They’ve done a good job, this club has, of keeping it in great shape and showcasing his talents as a designer.”

While players often use the putter on the closely-mown areas around the greens, Mickelson said it’s not shaved enough that good players can’t get a wedge under the ball — which expands his versatility around the greens.

“There’s slight roll-offs on all sides, a little bit like Pinehurst but not as severe,” he said. “There’s very soft movements, so if you hit good shots and you get on the green, you have great looks at birdie. I thought the fringe area, like the chipping area maybe 30-yards short of the green and all around the green was some of the best I’ve ever seen. It allows you to get a wedge underneath the ball and actually hit decent chips and have options when you want to chip it or putt it.”

Mickelson said it’s a subtle difference between Timuquana and other course set-ups.

“Nowadays, I don’t know why, we’ve been making it so tight around the green that you simply can’t get a wedge underneath it,” he said. “This is different. You’ll see a lot of nice little pitches around the green, and the grass around it is incredible.”

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Jim Furyk nervous, but excited, to host Furyk and Friends for the first time as a full Champions event

“Monday morning was like maybe a feel of a major championship.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When Jim Furyk was a young pup on the PGA Tour, he marveled at the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez starring on the senior circuit. But he never envisioned that some day he’d be playing on PGA Tour Champions.

“As I got to 35, as I got to 40 and people would say, ‘Are you going to play the Champions Tour?’ Most of my peers would be like, ‘I don’t know, like I don’t know.’ Then as we got to 45, you go, ‘Well, you know, maybe.’ And then we got to like our late 40s, and we’re like, ‘Hey, who are we kidding? What the hell else are we going to do?’ That’s what we know how to do, that’s what we love to do, but there was always that, like at 42, ‘Hmm, I don’t know,’ ” Furyk said.

The 51-year-old has made a seamless transition to 50-and-older golf, winning in his first two starts and vying for both Rookie of the Year and the Charles Schwab Cup, the season-long competition. He hasn’t played a PGA Tour event since May, and noted that he may play a couple of old favorites over the next few years, but “95 percent of his golf will be on the Champions Tour.”

Jim Furyk celebrates with the trophy after winning the final round of the PURE Insurance Championship at the Pebble Beach Golf Links on September 20, 2020 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Furyk may have gotten off to a quick start in finding the winner’s circle, but he said it’s no cake walk. These guys are still good, and they still work at their game.

“There’s this idea that we’re all sitting around in the locker room and we’re having a beer and a glass of wine,” Furyk said. “I went to my first event in Flint and the range was packed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I mean packed. Putting green, it was hard to get a spot or a hole to putt at. The chipping green, they’ve got those three little chipping greens at Warwick Hills and it was hard to find a spot to go.”

“We’re blessed, and the guys understand it,” Furyk added. “They understand that it’s a second lease on life and I’m not sure there’s any other sport, maybe bowling, we have some professional bowlers over 50 that can still compete.”

“I’ve kind of fallen in love with the tour,” Furyk said. “I didn’t know if I’d like the three-round events; it’s a little bit of a track meet. You better get out there quick and make some birdies. You have to put the pedal down. I’m getting aggressive, I’m making more birdies. Golf is more fun that way.

“I’ve enjoyed getting in the fire a little bit more and winning a few events and had some heartbreaking losses as well. Every competitor wants to wake up on Sunday with a chance and I’ve had more opportunities on the Champions Tour and really enjoyed them. Guys are just as nervous and you get that throw up on your shoes on 18.”

This week Furyk may have a queasy stomach for a different reason. His name is on the tournament marquee for the first time – the Constellation Furyk & Friends – is being played at Timuquana Country Club.

“Monday morning was like maybe a feel of a major championship where I was just so excited to get things going, but also felt nervous, right?” Furyk said.

For a decade, Furyk & Friends existed as a one-day pro-am ahead of the Players Championship, raising about $500,000 each year for charity. Darius Rucker played at the inaugural tournament party.

“We had a nice niche and we were raising some good money, but we also didn’t have a formula for growth,” Furyk said.

As he neared his 50th birthday, he started seeing friends Davis Love III (RSM Classic) and Steve Stricker (American Family Insurance Open) host tournaments in their local community. When the Korn Ferry Finals moved from Atlantic Beach, Florida to Indiana, Furyk recognized an opportunity to create a tournament that would highlight downtown Jacksonville and the St. Johns River.

With the buy-in from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Furyk landed his long-time sponsor Constellation Energy to underwrite the title and Circle K as a presenting sponsor. (There’s a Slushie machine in the locker room this week.)

“At the time I hadn’t played a Champions Tour event yet. We’re trying to build an event on a tour that I never played an event on,” Furyk said. “It’s been over three years in the making, so it felt like this day or this week would never get here, and then the last few months have kind of flown by.”

WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play
Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson on the first hole during the second round of the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. (Photo: Stephen Spillman-USA TODAY Sports)

Turns out Furyk has a lot of friends. The field boasts the likes of Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, winning U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker and losing European captain Padraig Harrington, who is making his senior tour debut. Furyk, who said he didn’t need to twist any arms to get commitments, relayed a funny story of his recruitment of Stricker. Furyk was paired with the tournament host in Wisconsin and Fred Couples in the first round.

“Freddie hopped up on the first tee and said, ‘Man, I love that you two have an event. Strick, happy to be here. Jimmy, I can’t wait to come to your event.’ Then he looked at Strick and went, ‘You’re going, right?’ It was awesome. I couldn’t have said it better. I said to Strick, ‘Hunting season isn’t until Thanksgiving in Wisconsin, I checked.’ He laughed and said he’ll be here.”

Rucker was there on Tuesday night to bring everything full circle as the talent at the pro-am party along with Scotty McCreery, a former American Idol winner, and even John Daly took to the stage to sing “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

“We used to throw a concert for 400 people for our sponsors, now it’s a venue that holds 5,000 people, it’s amazing,” Furyk said. “I kind of pinch myself.”

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Former Timuquana head pro Bob Duval’s Jim Furyk and Friends prediction: ‘I think they’re going to tear it up’

Duval thinks the players will go low but “a lot depends on the greens.”

Bob Duval was the long-time Timuquana Country Club head professional and nurtured a future world No. 1-ranked golfer in the process on the classic Donald Ross design.

He also became a PGA Tour Champions winner and finished among the top-30 on the money list three years in a row to qualify for the Senior Tour Championship.

As a result, he’s got a keen interest in this week’s Constellation Furyk & Friends, which will be at Timuquana this week, marking the return of the PGA Tour Champions to the First Coast after a 19-year absence.

Duval last played full-time on the Champions Tour in 2001, with an elbow injury causing an early end to his second career. He had 134 career starts with 23 top-10s, had more than $2.25 in career earnings.

His victory in the 1999 Emerald Coast Classic in Pensacola came on the same day that his son David won the 1999 Players Championship, which still remains the only time a father and son have won on the same day in PGA Tour and Champions Tour events.

More: Lefty, Ernie highlight Furyk’s PGA Tour Champions event

And through his son, who learned to play the game at Timuquana and went on to win 13 PGA Tour titles, including the Players and the 2001 Open Championship, Duval is well-acquainted with numerous players who are in the field this week.

His verdict on how they will play the tree-lined course with numerous doglegs and the trademark Ross push-up greens: “I think they’re probably going to tear it up.”

“A lot depends on the greens,” Duval said. “If they’re firm and fast, they might have some problems, especially if they let the Bermuda rough grow a little. But the course is right there in front of you. There are a lot of doglegs but there are no blind shots and these guys are damn good.”

Duval said that while there are no Bryson DeChambeaus on the senior circuit, there are still some big boppers — Phil Mickelson, among them, who will be the first reigning major champion to compete in a Champions Tour event.

“They may be on the Champions Tour but they’re still hitting it 290, 300 yards,” said Duval, They’ve benefited from equipment and the balls just like everyone else.”

Duval said Mickelson should be an obvious contender, but with a caveat.

“If Phil drives it crooked, he will have a rough time,” Duval said.

He also likes the tournament host, Jim Furyk, and Jerry Kelly, for their accuracy off the tee.

“It’s an old-school course and I think the guys are really going to like it,” Duval said. “They always look forward to a course where the short game is important. There are too many modern courses where if you can’t hit it high and right, you can’t play it. It’s going to be fun to watch how they play it.”

Duval had a prediction on the final winning score, unless weather is a factor.

“Twelve or 13-under will be pretty good on Sunday,” he said.

Duval also likes one change they made for tournament week: flipping the sides. That makes the 435-yard par-4 ninth hole, with a large fairway bunker on the left (and out of-bounds beyond that) and trees on the right, a tougher finishing hole than No. 18, which is about 12 yards shorter, with a larger green.

“No. 18 is a flat-out birdie hole now, a driver and a wedge for those guys,” Duval said. “No. 9, you’ve got OB left if you pull it and big trees on the right. That green is a little wobbly, terrain-wise. No. 9 is going to be a great finishing hole.”

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Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and more highlight packed field for Jim Furyk’s PGA Tour Champions event

A field like this would have led to champagne corks popping in the offices of The Players Championship — 20 years ago.

A field like this would have led to champagne corks popping in the offices of The Players Championship — 20 years ago.

In the present day, it’s as good as it gets for the PGA Tour Champions.

The field for the upcoming Constellation Furyk & Friends was finalized late Friday afternoon and the final roll call at the Timuquana Country Club when the first round begins on Oct. 8 will be nine members of the World Golf Hall of Fame and 21 major champions who have combined to win 38 of golf’s grand-slam events.

Leading the way will be current PGA champion and five-time major winner Phil Mickelson, four-time major champion Ernie Els, three-time major champion Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach, two-time Masters champion and current Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernard Langer, tournament host and 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk of Jacksonville and two-time Players champion and 1997 PGA winner Davis Love III of St. Simons Island, Ga.

Six past Players champions are in the field, Mickelson, Love, Fred Couples, Lee Janzen, Fred Funk and K.J. Choi.

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The list also includes both Ryder Cup captains whose teams battled last week at Whistling Straits, Steve Stricker for the U.S. and Padraig Harrington for Europe. Harrington, a three-time major champion who turned 50 years old on Aug. 31, is making his PGA Tour Champions debut.

Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach is one of nine members of the World Golf Hall of Fame and 18 major champions playing in the Constellation Furyk & Friends tournament Oct. 8-10 at the Timuquana Country Club.
The field of 81 includes more than 50 past PGA Tour winners who have combined for more than 400.

Players also will be jockeying for position in the 54-hole, no-cut tournament, with two events left to qualify for the final-72 on the Schwab Cup points list and make the three-tournament playoff series. Only five of the current top-72 are not playing.

Tickets and parking information are available by visiting constellationfurykandfriends.com.

Furyk & Friends field

Players who have committed to the Constellation Furyk & Friends PGA Tour Champions event Oct. 8-10 at the Timuquana Country Club (World Golf Hall of Fame members in bold):

Steven Alker, Michael Allen, Robert Allenby, Billy Andrade, Stuart Appleby, Woody Austin, Doug Barron, Cameron Beckman, Rich Beem, Shane Bertsch, Paul Broadhurst, Tom Byrum, Mark Calcavecchia, K.J. Choi, Darren Clarke, Fred Couples, John Daly, Marco Dawson, Glen Day, Chris DiMarco, Ken Duke, Scott Dunlap, Joe Durant, Ernie Els, Bob Estes, Steve Flesch, David Frost, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Tom Gillis, Matt Gogel, Retief Goosen, Jay Haas, Padraig Harrington, Tim Herron, Scott Hoch, Lee Janzen, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Brandt Jobe, Kent Jones, Robert Karlsson, Jerry Kelly, Bernhard Langer, Stephen Leaney, Tom Lehman, Frank Lickliter II, Davis Love III, Jeff Maggert, Billy Mayfair, David McKenzie, Rocco Mediate, Phil Mickelson, Larry Mize, Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazábal, Rod Pampling, Scott Parel, Jesper Parnevik, Corey Pavin, Tom Pernice Jr., Tim Petrovic, Dicky Pride, Brett Quigley, Loren Roberts, Gene Sauers, John Senden, Wes Short, Jr., Vijay Singh, Jeff Sluman, Paul Stankowski, Steve Stricker, Kevin Sutherland, Ken Tanigawa, David Toms, Kirk Triplett, Duffy Waldorf, Mike Weir.

Tournament information

Dates: Oct. 8-10.
Course: Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville.
Tickets/parking: Visit constellationfurykandfriends.com.
TV: Golf Channel (Oct. 8-10, 3-5 p.m.).
Purse: $2 million ($300,000 to the winner).

Golf, food, music and community: Constellation Furyk & Friends offers something for everyone

Come for the golf, stay for a good time

The Furyks are throwing a party at one of the most historic Donald Ross golf courses in the South and they have one message.

Y’all come.

PGA Tour Champions golf returns to the First Coast for the first time in 19 years as the Constellation Furyk & Friends tournament will be played Oct. 8-10 at the Timuquana Country Club, one of the oldest continuously operating clubs in Florida.

There, among fairways lined with trees dripping with Spanish Moss, on the banks of the St. Johns River, 17-time PGA Tour winner Jim Furyk and his wife, Tabitha, are hosting the first PGA Tour Champions event in the area since 2002, the final year of the Legends of Golf at the World Golf Hall of Fame King & Bear.

It’s a new generation of Champions Tour stars who have come out to test their skills on the meandering fairways and tricky push-up greens of Timuquana.

The field is led by reigning PGA champion Phil Mickelson, who became the oldest player in history to win a major championship in May at Kiawah Island, S.C., plus other major champions such as Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Furyk, Fred Couples, John Daly, Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara and Jose Maria Olazabal — plus Ryder Cup captains Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington.

Times-Union file

If all of the players who have committed or indicated they will have committed by the Oct. 1 deadline show up at Timuquana, the field will have 58 past PGA Tour winners who have combined for 438 titles; 20 players combining for 38 major championships; 56 past PGA Tour Champions winners combining for 261 titles; and 23 PGA Tour Champion major winners who have combined to win 50 majors.

The tournament has the backing of Constellation Energy for five years — which means a commitment of $2.6 million to charity — and the presenting sponsor is Circle K.

Other corporate support will be seen in the number of restaurants that set up shop at the course (such as M Shack and Taco Lu), participants in three pro-ams (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week) and the purchase of hospitality packages.

Also coming will be musical stars Darius Rucker and Scott McCreery, who will perform at a concert on Oct. 5 at Daily’s Place.

The Furyk factor

Why the strong support from both players, the entertainers and the First Coast business community, in the tournament’s first year, in the middle of football season?

PGA Tour Champions President Brady Miller has an easy answer.

“It’s Jim and Tabitha,” he said of one of the First Coast’s leading power couples in golf. “They have supported charities; Tabitha is on numerous boards and everyone wanted to be a part of because of them. The question was, what level?”

Tournament director Adam Renfroe said there was some uncertainty about how the tournament would be received. The dates were announced several days before the Tour was forced to cancel The Players and officials have been monitoring the impact of the COVID surge this summer.

Renfroe called the overall response by the business community and fans a “pleasant surprise.”

“It speaks to the relationship Jim and Tabitha have in Jacksonville and their charity work,” Renfroe said. “I think there’s confidence in the corporate community that their money and their sponsorships are going to be put to good use. We’re really proud of Jacksonville and the response we’ve gotten.”

The race to Schwab playoffs

The competition will be important to the players since the Furyk & Friends is the next-to-last tournament to insure a top-72 finish on the Schwab Cup points list and qualify for the three-tournament Schwab Cup series.

It’s been a two-year process, because of the pandemic, with 2020 and 2021 folded into one race.

Langer’s runnerup finish to K.J. Choi last week at Pebble Beach gave him a lead of more than $164,000 over Furyk, with Jerry Kelly, Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez rounding out the top-five.

Langer is seeking his sixth Schwab Cup title.

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

And what golf purist from the First Coast won’t want to see how the field attacks Timuquana?

“It will be set up firm and fast and the greens allow for defense,” Furyk said. “Depending on the weather, single-digits [under par] could win. If you drive the ball well you will have a short iron in your hand a reasonable number of times. The par-5s are reachable. But with the pushup greens and some putts that can break a little funny, you can make bogeys as well.”

When Furyk first approach Miller about holding a PGA Tour Champions event, he said they both had the same idea: play at Timuquana.

“It’s a hidden gem,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s going to favor a certain style and I think the guys are going to love having to hit different shots into and around the greens.”

Come for the golf, stay for the party

But just as much as it will be a golf tournament, Tabitha Furyk wants it to be a community celebration. The 2020 Players Championship was canceled because of the onset of the pandemic. The 2021 Players was held with limited spectators.

Furyk & Friends could be a way for golf fans to unwind in a comfortable setting.

“We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to feel like they own part of this tournament,” she said. “It’s super-important to us that this just isn’t about golf, but also about the great food the Jacksonville restaurants have to offer and the music. It’s a party in our community and we want everyone to come.”

There will still be safety measures in place. All hospitality venues are open-air, hand sanitizers will be plentiful and social distancing is being encouraged. Masks are required for those with clubhouse access.

But autographs will be allowed and Miller said that close to 90 percent of the PGA Tour Champions members are vaccinated.

Furyk said another reason he’s enthused about the tournament: almost every player in the field competed in The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra for years but most of them have never seen Timuquana, downtown Jacksonville or the Ortega area.

“They’ve really only seen the airport, the beach and the TPC Sawgrass,” Furyk said. “Now they’re going to get a chance to see our downtown area and the beautiful areas on the river we have.”

PGA Tour Champions on the First Coast

Senior Players Championship

1987: Gary Player shot 8-under 208 at the Sawgrass Country Club to beat Chi Chi Rodriguez and Bruce Crampton by one shot at the Sawgrass Country Club.

1988: Billy Casper’s 10-under 278 at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course beat Al Geiberger by two shots.

1989: Orville Moody lit up the Valley Course for a 17-under 271, the lowest 72-hole individual score in a Champions Tour event on the First Coast. He beat Charles Coody by two shots.

Legends of Golf

1998: The tournament was played at the Golf Club of Amelia for one year when the World Golf Hall of Fame Slammer & Squire Course wasn’t ready. Charles Coody and Dale Douglass won the team competition for the third time in sudden death against Hugh Baiocchi and David Graham after both teams finished 24-under 192.

1999: Hubert Green and Gil Morgan shot 22-under 194 at the Slammer & Squire to beat John Mahaffy and Tom Wargo by three shots.

2000: Jim Colbert and Andy North won at 25-under 191 at the Slammer & Squire, outlasting Bruce Fleisher and David Graham by one shot.

2001: The same two teams remained at the top after a rain-shortened 36-hole event, which was moved to the King & Bear. Colbert and North shot 20-under 124 and nipped Fleisher and Graham by one shot.

2002: The tournament format changed to individual stroke play for the Senior Division, with earnings counting for the first time. Doug Tewell edged Bobby Wadkins by one shot at 11-under 205 at the King & Bear. It was late announced that the tournament was moving to Savannah.

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