Furyk appears back on the right course

After a strong but ultimately disappointing season without a win, veteran Jim Furyk took eight weeks off before playing in Tiger Woods’ Chevron World Challenge this weekend.

The West Chester, Pa., native spent the time with his family, attended Pittsburgh Steelers and Ohio State football games and in only the last two weeks knocked the rust off his golf game.

So even Furyk was surprised that he opened with a four-under-par 68 to take the first-round lead Thursday at a soggy Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Boo Weekley and K.J. Choi shot 70 to tie for second in the 16-player field, while Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker and Vijay Singh were three shots back.

“My expectations weren’t that high . . . as little as I’ve been playing,” said Furyk, who has 13 career wins, including the 2003 U.S. Open, and earned $3.4 million in 2008. “It’s a good score and I’m happy with it, but I need to build on it.”

That’s certainly feasible, considering that Furyk, ranked 13th in the world, failed to birdie any of the five par-five holes at Sherwood, a course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

The 7,027-yard layout was drenched Wednesday, cutting short the pro-am portion of the tournament.

“It was more wet today than it was yesterday when we were playing in the rain,” Furyk said.

Weekley, a Floridian whose popularity jumped after he helped the U.S. team win the Ryder Cup in September, said, “I’ve never played golf in weather like that.

“I’ve hunted in it, but I’ve never played golf in it,” he quipped.

This is the 10th year of Woods’ tournament, and the golfer who has been nearly as familiar as Woods here is veteran Fred Couples.

A fan favorite, Couples is playing in his eighth Challenge as one of the four golfers invited to join several of the PGA Tour’s top players this season.

Couples birdied the first hole Thursday but finished with a one-over 73.

“I drove it really well today, but I think [the ball] hitting the ground is where I lost all control,” he said sarcastically. “I hit a lot of bad irons.”

At 49, Couples is in the late stages of a career that started 28 years ago and yielded 15 victories, including the Masters in 1992. A Seattle native who now lives in the Palm Springs area, he hasn’t won since 2003 and plans to eventually play on the Champions Tour for players 50 and older.

But Couples, known for his smooth, seemingly effortless swing, still shows flashes of brilliance on the regular tour despite a history of back problems. “I’ll be at tournaments next year and we’ll see how it goes,” he recently told a reception in Los Angeles held by Challenge sponsor Chevron.

And in 2010, “if I feel good and play well, I’ll probably play the West Coast [tournaments] . . . and if I get off to a great start, I might just continue.”

Couples covered a wide range of golf topics at the reception, including his fondness for needling Woods, the world’s No. 1 player who is sitting out this year’s Challenge as he recovers from knee surgery.

“I enjoy picking on Tiger a lot,” Couples said. “It’s very easy for me to do because he’s got nothing to worry about. If it was Phil Mickelson or Vijay picking on him, then it becomes a little more dicey. But I can’t beat the guy.”

Mickelson isn’t playing in the event.

Some of Couples’ other observations:

On his reputation as a long hitter: “I’ve always hit the ball a long way and that’s been a strength. I’m actually a better driver today, that’s basically just because of the equipment [improvements].”

On his back problems, which he treats with physical therapy: “I’m in decent golf shape. A downhill lie is tough for me to reach for. My back was just very beat up. It’s a part of life. It’s not a big deal.”

On troubled golfer John Daly: “John Daly is as good as anyone playing golf, in my opinion. He just can’t get his mind straight.”

On rising star Kim: “I’m at an age where Anthony Kim couldn’t even be my son, he’s so young [23], so I can’t even use that line.”

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james.peltz@latimes.com