Furyk's Win Is the Final Twist

By Chris Dufresne

June 16, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. —

Jim Furyk won the 103rd U.S. Open on Sunday, on Father’s Day, with a swing only his father could love.

In fact, it ought to come with a warning label: Kids, do not try this at home.

For the record:

12:00 a.m. June 18, 2003 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday June 18, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
U.S. Open golf -- The caption with a photo of golfer Stephen Leaney in Sports on Monday incorrectly said that Leaney had birdied the first hole in the U.S. Open. Leaney had a bogey on the hole.

There is sporting form you want to emulate -- Michael Jordan’s follow-through, Rod Laver’s backhand -- and form you tolerate, such as Shaq’s free-throw technique.

Let’s just say Furyk’s form will not be cryogenically frozen for scientific research. His golf swing has been described as “an octopus falling out of a tree” and worse, yet he has now taken his funky follow-through to the top of the golf world.

Mike Furyk, a teaching golf pro, might have straightened his son’s swing years ago if not for the fact Jim kept hitting the ball straight.

And they say mother knows best.

At age 33, Jim Furyk captured his first major championship, by three shots, at Olympia Fields with an eight-under, tournament record-tying total of 272.

He shot two over par Sunday for four-round totals of 67-66-67-72.

Stephen Leaney, a heretofore anonymous Australian, shot 72 and 275 for the championship.

Kenny Perry and Mike Weir, this year’s Masters champion, finished tied for third at 279.

It was a breakthrough victory for Furyk and a terrific comeback for much-maligned Olympia Fields, which toughened up so much on the final day that only four players finished the tournament under par.

This after 26 players were under par through two rounds.

Bogeys on the final two holes cost Furyk a chance to break the U.S. Open tournament record of 272 -- a mark he will gladly share with Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Lee Janzen.

Furyk also lost a chance to become only the third man in Open history to complete four rounds in the 60s, but those are only historical nitpicks.

Furyk built his lead to as many as five shots -- it was never smaller than three Sunday -- and milked it on the final holes.

“It’s nice having that big lead,” he said. “You can afford to make a mistake.”

As he walked up the 18th, the usually understated Furyk clenched both fists as fans applauded. He acknowledged the accolades by raising his putter in the air.

Some of it was for his dad and mom, some for wife Tabitha and his young daughter.

“The professional part is putting my name on the trophy but the special part is being able to share it with my family,” Furyk said.

There was little drama on the back nine Sunday, or the front nine, unless you count security escorting a topless female streaker off the 11th green.

If that didn’t shake Furyk up, what would?

“I honestly didn’t see her,” he joked later. “My back was turned.”

Furyk is so fundamentally sound and face-forward focused, you almost believed him.

Furyk won his first major with the kind of shot-by-shot steady play that has made him a very consistent (seven PGA Tour wins) and very rich player (Sunday’s $1.08-million payday put him at more than $17 million in career earnings).

He led the field in greens hit in regulation and was second in fairways hit.

To golf historians, this U.S. Open will not rank high in the annals. There was no signature shot for the championship, nothing comparable to Tom Watson’s chip-in in 1982 at Pebble Beach, or even Corey Pavin’s four-wood to the 18th at Shinnecock Hills in 1995.

In fact, the most memorable shots of this U.S Open were made by the 53-year-old Watson.

Furyk didn’t need any seat-of-his-pants antics to win this tournament. He only needed to show up, play his plodder’s game and pick up his terrific trophy.

Leaney will regret consecutive bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 that allowed Furyk to cushion his lead.

“It’s always going to be hard on the back nine to close a five-shot deficit,” he said.

The last chance for any drama fizzled on the par-four 12th hole, where Leaney missed a birdie putt that could have cut Furyk’s lead to three.

And while the final round was a snooze, it wasn’t Furyk’s fault that no one stepped up to make a run at him.

Furyk had a three-shot lead over Leaney to start play Sunday, but most expected the real push to come from Nick Price and Vijay Singh, five shots back at five under, given that the two players have combined to win five major championships.

It never happened. The veterans’ charge never materialized. Instead, Price and Singh opted for an express checkout, each shooting 40 on the front nine.

Price, who at 46 was trying to become the oldest player to win a U.S. Open, started bogey, bogey, bogey. He ended up with a 75 and finished even-par 280.

Singh birdied the par-four second hole, made double bogey on the par-four third and then dropped off the leaderboard faster than you can say Annika Sorenstam.

Singh shot 78 for the day and finished at 283.

“It was a weird day for us,” Price said about his play and Singh’s. “It was probably one of the hardest days I’ve ever had at a major championship.”

Tiger Woods? Oh yeah, him.

He started 11 strokes behind, shot 72 and finished at 283 with rounds of 70-66-75-72.

Does the world’s best golfer need to become more focused?

“I don’t see how that’s possible,” Woods said. “My ultimate goal is to win championships.”

Yet, for the first time since 1999, Tiger Woods does not hold a major title.

In the era of Nike commercials and Tiger-worship, that’s almost an eternity.

“When I win obviously everything seems like he can never lose,” he said, “and all of a sudden I don’t win a couple tournaments, all of a sudden.... “

Don’t dare mention the dreaded “slump” word.

Leaney, the unknown Australian, actually held his own on the world stage.

Second place in the U.S. Open isn’t too shabby for a guy who has failed five times to earn his PGA Tour card and missed the cut in his only other U.S. Open appearance in 1999. The runner-up finish assures him of a tour card next year.

But the day, and the moment, were Furyk’s.

Price said it best when he said it was just Furyk’s time.

Funny thing. Mike Weir won his first major title this year at the Masters.

He was born May 12, 1970.

Furyk won his first major Sunday.

His birth date?

May 12, 1970.

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