The last laugh? You betcha, for Jim Furyk – possessor of a unique swing that has often been the butt-end of many a joke from television commentators – has cemented his place in golfing history.
If his one and only Major title success in the 2003 US Open and his win in the FedEx Cup series in 2010 were previous highlights on his career CV, his record-breaking low round 58 on tour has given him bragging rights in the locker-room, on the range and pretty much anywhere he pleases.
Furyk’s 12-under-par round of 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship didn’t earn him victory but it did provide the genial American with further vindication for a swing – taught to him by his father, Mike, a club professional and his only ever coach – that has served him so well in a lucrative career on tour which has seen him win 27 times around the globe.
Having missed the early part of this season following wrist surgery, which included him being unable to play in the Masters, Furyk’s latter part of the season has shown typically impressive form. He finished tied for runner-up behind Dustin Johnson in the US Open in June, yet this remarkable 58 – which included 10 birdies and an eagle – will ensure a place in the history books as the player to shoot a record-breaking low round on the PGA Tour.
Not at all bad for having what US television commentator Gary McCord once described as a swing resembling a “one-armed golfer using an axe to kill a snake in a telephone booth.”
Furyk, incidentally, was one of six players to share the previous record of 59. In his case, Furyk’s 59 had come in the second round of the BMW Championship at Conway Farm, outside Chicago.
Now, this: a 58! Furyk’s record round came on the Par 70 course of TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, one that was ignited into life with a hole-out from 135 yards for an eagle on the third hole and followed by a run of four successive birdies from the sixth to the ninth to turn in a mere 27 strokes. Furyk also birdied the second and fourth holes on that front nine.
He then extended the birdie streak to seven straight holes when he rolled in birdie putts on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes and then reached the magic number with a 23-footer for birdie on 16th to get to 12-under on his round. He parred the 17th and played the 18th in regulation, two-putting for par from 27 feet, to become the history-maker.
Of his round, Furyk admitted to having “a special feeling” as he made the turn. “You can’t help but think about it . . . . to turn around and make the putts on 10, 11 and 12 and already by 11-under-par with six holes to play, it just kind of became a little bit of a mental game.”
That he had been in similar territory at Conway Farms stood to him, he believed. “I had that, ‘here we go again’ feeling. I remembered the mental battle, the grind. It was tougher conditions at Conway (Farms), but a little smoother round of golf today than there.”
Furyk’s 58 became the lowest round ever on the PGA Tour. Back in 2010, Ryo Ishikawa shot a 58 – 12 birdies and no bogeys – to win The Crowns tournament on the Japan Tour while only last week Germany’s Stefan Jager shot a 58 on his way to winning the Ellie Mae Classic on the Web.Com Tour, the secondary circuit in the United States. There have been no sub-60 rounds on the European Tour.
Low rounds on PGA Tour
58 – Jim Furyk (2016 Travelers Championship)
59 – Al Geiberger (1977 Memphis Classic), Chip Beck (1991 Las Vegas Invitational), David Duval (1999 Bob Hope Classic), Paul Goydos (2010 John Deere Classic), Stuart Appleby (2010 Greenbrier Classic), Jim Furyk (2013 BMW Championship).
