Golfer Jim Furyk captivates crowd at Breakfast With a Champion event in Newport Beach

Moderator Hank Adler asked Jim Furyk to name his top five golfers of all time at Tuesday morning’s Breakfast With a Champion event, which kicks off Hoag Classic week.

Furyk got as far as four, rattling off the last names of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan.

“I’ll let you pick the fifth one,” Furyk told Adler, and the chairman emeritus of the tournament smiled.

“I’ll pick Furyk,” he responded.

Though even Furyk might not put himself in quite so elite company, he’s excited about playing in the Hoag Classic for the first time this weekend at Newport Beach Country Club. The guest of honor for the Breakfast With a Champion event, Furyk touched on a wide variety of topics Tuesday with Adler at the Balboa Bay Resort as about 300 guests ate their scrambled eggs and potatoes.

Furyk, 51, entertained the crowd with his sense of humor. He has made a successful transition to the PGA Tour Champions after earning 17 wins on the PGA Tour, including one major championship at the 2003 U.S. Open.

Guest of honor Jim Furyk, 51, speaks at the annual Hoag Classic “Breakfast With a Champion” event at the Balboa Bay Resort on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

He’s known as a good guy who is easy to root for. As Adler noted in introducing Furyk, he has helped support Sierra Duplantis, the daughter of his former caddie Steve Duplantis, who died in a car accident in 2008. Sierra graduated from Clemson University in 2018.

Furyk is also known for his unorthodox, loopy swing. He credits it to his father, Mike, who was a golf professional at Edgmont Country Club in Pennsylvania while Jim was growing up.

“Right now, Matthew Wolff has a somewhat similar swing to me, other than it’s about 80 miles an hour faster,” Jim Furyk quipped. “He has a lot more power than I ever did.”

Furyk may not be known as a long driver, but his steady game pays dividends for him. He shot a round of 58 during the final round of 2016 Travelers Championship in Connecticut, which remains the lowest score in PGA Tour history.

Furyk also shot a 59 at the BMW Championship in 2013.

Golf fans in Newport Beach have seen some low scores over the years, but never quite that low. The course record at the Hoag Classic is a 60, shot three times — by Tom Purtzer in 2004, Nick Price in 2011 and Duffy Waldorf in 2015. Each man went on to capture the tournament title.

“Both rounds really mirrored each other,” Furyk said of his rounds of 58 and 59. “I shot eight-under on the front nine, and holed an iron shot, on both of them. I made the turn at eight-under, and then there’s a massive buzz on the golf course. Hash tags are going out, trending. People love to say, ‘Man, I saw you shoot 58! I was there for all 18 holes!’

“Well, I teed off in the third or fourth group of the day at 7-something on Sunday morning. There was like six people on the first tee. If you were one of the six, then great.”

Furyk said he has played at Newport Beach Country Club once before, at the 1993 Taco Bell Newport Classic shortly after he came on tour.

“I don’t remember much, but I remember liking the golf course,” he said. “I remember some short, twisty trees.”

Beginning on Friday, he will familiarize himself with the course again.

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