U.S. Open Preview: Jim Furyk
From June 17 to June 20, Jim Furyk will go for his second career US Open championship at Pebble Beach. Furyk is currently the fifth-ranked golfer in the world and is coming off of a disappointing finish at the Master’s this past April in which he missed the half-way cut.
Furyk’s first major tournament came in 1994 at the US Open. He finished 28th overall. After not playing in the US Open the following year, Furyk finished in ties for fifth in both the 1996 and 1997 US Opens. Furyk’s fifth place finish at the 1996 US Open was his first notable finish in any major.
The next five US Opens were disappointments for PGA betting star, Furyk. From 1998 to 2001, his finishes got progressively worse and in 2002, he completely missed the half-way cut.
Furyk’s struggles at the US Open make his success at the 2003 US Open even more interesting. The tournament took place at Olympic Fields Country Club in Illinois and Furyk was masterful. He used final round scores of 67, 66, and 67 in the first three rounds to give him a dominant ten under par score going into the final round. In the final round, he slipped by the standards he had set in the first three rounds, shooting a 72. However, he had established enough distance between him and his competitors that it wasn’t a problem. His final eight under was good enough for his first major championship.
In 2006 and 2007, Furyk repeated as a second-place finisher at the US Open. He needed par on the 18th hole in the 2006 Open in order to force a playoff but ended up bogeying. He tied with Tiger Woods for second at the 2007 Open at plus six, one stroke behind tournament champion Ángel Cabrera.