Funk Doesn’t Lose His Mojo

Fred Funk didn’t close the deal on Sunday, but no golfer had more fun.

Funk shot one-over 73 and finished tied for fourth, yet the 46-year-old thoroughly enjoyed the round he played with Tiger Woods.

“I didn’t want the day to end,” Funk said. “It was such a great atmosphere. I was having a good time. I heard one of the best chants from this guy who said, ‘Freddie for governor.’ Is Jesse out? I’m not fighting him.”

Funk had his share of fun, starting on the first hole, after Woods pumped his fist after chipping in to save par.

Not to be outdone, Funk threw up his arm after he made his par.

Woods broke out in a broad smile as the players walked to the second hole.

Funk told Woods, “I got that out of the way,” but Woods would have the last laugh, saying of Funk that “gravity has taken its toll on him.”

Funk is one of the tour’s shortest players at 5 feet 8.

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Whither Butch?

He has been Woods’ only coach since Earl Woods handed him the reins when Tiger was a teenager, but Butch Harmon’s influence is going to be reduced. Woods says his working relationship with Harmon is different now.

“Yes, it has changed,” Woods said. “Every player, as you get a little bit better and you understand your own mechanics, you understand your game, you don’t rely on a teacher quite as often. That’s what has transpired with me.

“I still need Butch, yes, but as not as much as I used to.”

There was speculation after last year’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club that Woods and Harmon were going to take separate paths, but both denied it. Harmon is the only remaining member of Woods’ original entourage from 1996, when he turned professional.

“I know what the cure is for a lot of my faults that I have while I’m playing,” Woods said. “But Butch, he’s got a great eye for the swing, there’s no denying that.”

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The surprise performance of the week belonged to Chris Riley, who came from nowhere, it seemed, to finish third at five-under 283.

By finishing in the top four, Riley earned a spot in next year’s Masters.

“It’s the hardest major to get into,” Riley said. “It would be a dream come true to play at Augusta. It is the pinnacle.”

The 28-year-old Riley, from Las Vegas, has not won a tournament since joining the PGA Tour in 1999.

Riley said he was happy just to make the cut.

“I have never been in an experience like this,” he said. “It is a tremendous feeling, something you can’t describe. The people back home are going to ask me how it is playing in a major. It was a lot of fun.”

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He had a 71 in the first round, but closed with a 78 and wound up at 11-over 299 in a tie for 60th, so Nick Faldo had no problem assessing his performance.

“It started great and finished very badly.... This was a horrible week.”

At 45, Faldo says he isn’t putting Hazeltine on his schedule when the PGA Championship returns here in 2009.

“I’ll be fishing by then,” he said. “I’ll be on the Nick Faldo World Fishing Tour by then. Come and join me if you’ve got a fishing rod.”

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Charles Howell was all over the place the last three rounds--69, 80, 69--to finish his second PGA Championship at two-over 290, tied for 17th. Howell blamed his driving and not his putting, which has not been his strong point this year.

Howell said shooting 80 after being at par through seven holes was “just like putting a bullet through your foot.”

Added Howell: “Actually, putting a bullet in my foot probably would have felt better than an 80.”

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Stuart Appleby on Hazeltine: “When you start out at Augusta, then Bethpage was just phenomenal, I couldn’t stop raving about that. I like the [Hazeltine] course, but I’ve played a lot better.”

And from Vijay Singh: “It’s been the easiest course of the majors this year.”

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Phil Mickelson pulled himself together with a four-under 68 and wound up tied for 34th at six-over 294. Mickelson said his coach, Rick Smith, helped him work out what was going wrong when they met for dinner Saturday night.

“We kind of clicked on something,” Mickelson said. “I started to hit the ball very well, so that is a plus.”

In the other three majors this year, Mickelson was third at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open and tied for 66th at the British Open.