ATLANTA -- On Overstock.com the Dakota Red Leather Travel Clock earns a five-star rating from satisfied customers and is marked down to a bargain $19.99. Unless, of course, you happen to be Jim Furyk. Then its value could be somewhere around $10 million.Furyk, as golf recalls, made unwanted news a few weeks ago thanks to a malfunctioning cell phone alarm that resulted in a missed early morning pro-am tee time and disqualification at the Barclays.
After an uproar of protest by many fellow players, the PGA Tour rule was soon modified, but for Furyk the damage was done. No. 3 on the FedEx Cup points list going into the opening event of the four-tournament playoff series, the lost week -- one quarter of the post-season -- helped send him into this week's grand finale Tour Championship as the 11th seed.
That is significant because, after Friday's second-round 65 at East Lake Golf Club, Furyk is 8 under and tied for first place with England's Luke Donald -- tantalizingly close to still being in the chase for the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus.
But, imagine just how much better his position could have been. Furyk prefers not to.
"I've always been able to kind of laugh at myself," he said. "I mean, it was my fault. If I whined or complained or anything about the rule, it's just going to make me look worse.
"My peers actually did plenty of that for me, so I think it was probably somewhat sympathetic. And then, they gave me my due crap, as well, which I deserved."
Now, to cash in on the FedEx big bonus, Furyk not only must win Sunday but also needs Matt Kuchar to finish seventh or worse (Possible, 2 over and T15). He needs Dustin Johnson to finish fifth or worse (Likely, plus-4 and T23). He needs Charley Hoffman to do no better than fourth (Might, 2 under and T8). He needs Steve Stricker to be third or worse (Probable, 2 over and T15). And he needs Paul Casey to finish third or worse (Maybe, 3 under, T5).
No comments:
Post a Comment