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Showing posts with label PGA TOUR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PGA TOUR. Show all posts

Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jim Furyk
JimFurykATTNational1.jpg
Personal information
Full name James Michael Furyk
Born May 12, 1970 (1970-05-12) (age 39)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Spouse Tabitha
Children Caleigh Lynn (b.2002)
Tanner James (b.2003)
Career
College University of Arizona
Turned professional 1992
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1992)
Professional wins 23
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 13
Nationwide Tour 1
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
The Masters 4th: 1998, 2003
U.S. Open Won: 2003
Open Championship 4th/T4: 1997, 1998, 2006
PGA Championship T6: 1997
Achievements and awards
Vardon Trophy 2006
James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer, known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing. Due to his ability to perform at such a high level despite that swing, his devoted fan base has given him the nickname "The Grinder". In September 2006 he reached a career high of second in the Official World Golf RankingsHe has ranked in the top-10 for over 270 weeks between 1999 and 2009.

Biography

Furyk was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His early years were spent in the Pittsburgh suburbs learning the game from his father, who was head pro at Uniontown Country Club near Pittsburgh. He graduated from Manheim Township High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1988 where he was a standout basketball player in addition to being a state champion golfer. He attended the University of Arizona and turned professional in 1992.
Furyk at the 2004 Ryder Cup
Furyk won at least one tournament each year on the PGA Tour between 1998 and 2003. At the time, this was the second best streak of winning seasons behind Tiger Woods and he made the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings. Furyk's biggest win to date came on June 16, 2003, when he tied the record for the lowest 72-hole score in U.S. Open history to win his first major championship.
In 2004 he only played in fourteen events after missing three months due to surgery to repair cartilage damage in his wrist and he fell out of the top hundred on the money list, but he returned to good form in 2005 and regained his top ten ranking, winning a PGA Tour event in that year and two in 2006.
In the 2006 season, he finished a career-high second on the money list and won the Vardon Trophy for the first time. He also had a career-best thirteen top-10 finishes, including nine top-3s, four second-place finishes, and two victories.
The only instructor he has ever used is his dad, Mike Furyk, which may account for his unusual swing. His caddy is Mike "Fluff" Cowan, who was Tiger Woods' caddy for Woods' first two years as a professional.
During the 2003 Buick Open on-course commentator Mike Hulbert interviewed Furyk from what appeared to be a snack bar during a rain delay while covering the early rounds on USA Network. Other players (who were not visible, nor identified) were in the room at the time of Furyk's interview and proceeded to throw popcorn at them from off camera as the interview progressed. At one point Furyk even held up a golf towel to block the popcorn as it got worse, and he stated that: "It looks like it's pick on Hubby day!"
Jim Furyk at the 2008 Players Championship

The Swing

Jim Furyk's trademark looping golf swing begins with a setup that has the ball at the heel of the club instead of the center, or even out at the toe. This moves his 6'2" frame in so close that his hands are virtually touching his thighs. Most golfers would have a difficult time with a golf club from such a starting point. Compare Furyk's setup to the more textbook setup of Tiger Woods, who begins with his hands 8 inches or so away from his body, a position that promotes a take-away that will put the golf club over his right shoulder at the top, and keep his right elbow tucked against his body. For a human being, this is the classic launch position. Since the beginning of time it has been used to throw a stone, a spear, a baseball, or swing a club. The big muscles of the body--the back, shoulders and thighs--are in control, not the weaker ones in the hands and wrists. The athlete (or hunter in early times) is said to be "loaded." His entire body is poised in the optimum power position.
Jim Furyk, by contrast, takes the club away in the manner of a basketball player shooting a hook shot. His arms move back vertically, and at the top his right elbow "flies" away from his body. Tall players tend toward more upright swings. While this manner of beginning doesn't promote power, it is an early step to facilitate accurate ball-striking. The club's shaft is nearly vertical, like a putter. It moves straight back and straight up, keeping it on path longer, which tends to reinforce in the mind the route along which to bring it back into the ball. At the top of the backswing, Furyk is in the same position as Jack Nicklaus would be--club shaft parallel to the intended line of flight, elbow flying off to who-knows-where. Starting the downswing, Furyk then "corrects" for his unconventional takeaway by dropping his right elbow into the slot where it needs to be, a move that brings the golf club onto the proper swing path to achieve sound results. It's this downswing beginning that produces the idiosyncratic loop in his swing.
As Mike Furyk describes in a Golf Digest issue in 2001, Jim Furyk's hips "underturn" during the backswing and "overturn" coming down. On the downswing, he draws the club in a large arc behind his body (viewing from his right hand side), then pastes his elbow against his right hip at impact. Commentator, Gary McCord, said it looked like Furyk was trying to swing inside a phone booth. Another commentator David Feherty memorably described Furyk's swing as "an octopus falling out of a tree". Others have noted it reminds them of "a one-armed golfer using an axe to kill a snake in a telephone booth."[4]
This move was controversial during Jim Furyk's early career; however, his father never forced him to change what came naturally to him. Jim Furyk's well-known ball-striking precision is now serving him well on the professional tour.
Furyk, however, isn't the first professional golfer to show us that a swing that defies convention--and countless books and articles on golf--can be successful. Nicklaus' swing was upright, with a flying elbow--and one of the biggest loopers of all time was Lee Trevino.

Professional wins (23)

PGA Tour wins (13)

Legend
Major Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (12)
No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 15, 1995 Las Vegas Invitational -28 (67-65-65-67-67=331) 1 stroke United States Billy Mayfair
2 Feb 18, 1996 United Airlines Hawaiian Open -11 (68-71-69-69=277) Playoff United States Brad Faxon
3 Oct 18, 1998 Las Vegas Invitational -25 (67-68-69-63-68=335) 1 stroke United States Mark Calcavecchia
4 Oct 17, 1999 Las Vegas Invitational -29 (67-64-63-71-66=331) 1 stroke United States Jonathan Kaye
5 Mar 6, 2000 Doral-Ryder Open -23 (65-67-68-65=265) 2 strokes United States Franklin Langham
6 Jan 14, 2001 Mercedes Championships -14 (69-69-69-67=274) 1 stroke South Africa Rory Sabbatini
7 May 24, 2002 Memorial Tournament -14 (71-70-68-65=274) 2 strokes United States John Cook, United States David Peoples
8 Jun 15, 2003 U.S. Open -8 (67-66-67-72=272) 3 strokes Australia Stephen Leaney
9 Aug 3, 2003 Buick Open -21 (68-66-65-68=267) 2 strokes United States Briny Baird, United States Chris DiMarco,
Australia Geoff Ogilvy, United States Tiger Woods
10 Jul 3, 2005 Cialis Western Open -14 (64-70-67-69=270) 2 strokes United States Tiger Woods
11 May 7, 2006 Wachovia Championship -12 (68-69-68-71=276) Playoff South Africa Trevor Immelman
12 Sep 10, 2006 Canadian Open -14 (63-71-67-65=266) 1 stroke United States Bart Bryant
13 Jul 29, 2007 Canadian Open -16 (69-66-69-64=268) 1 stroke Fiji Vijay Singh

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

Other wins (9)

Major Championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner(s)-up
2003 U.S. Open 3 shot lead -8 (67-66-67-72=272) 3 strokes Australia Stephen Leaney

Results timeline

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP T29 T28 4 T14
U.S. Open T28 DNP T5 T5 T14 T17
The Open Championship DNP DNP T45 4 T4 T10
PGA Championship DNP T13 T17 T6 CUT T8
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters T14 T6 CUT 4 DNP 28 T22 T13 T33 T10
U.S. Open 60 T62 CUT 1 T48 T28 T2 T2 T36 T33
The Open Championship T41 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT 4 T12 T5 T34
PGA Championship T72 T7 9 T18 CUT T34 T29 CUT T29 T63
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of major championship performances

  • Starts - 49
  • Wins - 1
  • 2nd place finishes - 2
  • Top 3 finishes - 3
  • Top 5 finishes - 10
  • Top 10 finishes - 15
  • Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 4

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Accenture Match Play Championship R64 R16 DNP R16 R16 DNP R64 R64 R32 R64 R16
CA Championship T11 DNP NT1 T33 T12 T36 T15 4 T35 T2 3
Bridgestone Invitational T10 T4 2 T6 T6 T22 T24 3 DNP T27 T51
HSBC Champions – – – – – – – – – – DNP
1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

Year Wins (Majors) Earnings ($) Rank
1994 0 236,603 78
1995 1 535,380 33
1996 1 738,950 26
1997 0 1,619,480 4
1998 1 2,054,334 3
1999 1 1,827,593 12
2000 1 1,940,519 17
2001 1 2,540,734 13
2002 1 2,363,250 14
2003 2 (1) 5,182,865 4
2004 0 691,675 116
2005 1 4,255,369 4
2006 2 7,213,316 2
2007 1 4,154,046 7
2008 0 3,455,714 12
2009 0 3,946,515 7
Career* 13 (1) 42,756,341 4
* Complete at end of 2009 season.

United States national team appearances

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Lee Westwood

Lee Westwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee Westwood
LeeWestwood.jpg
Personal information
Full name Lee John Westwood
Born 24 April 1973 (1973-04-24) (age 36)
Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 196 lb (89 kg; 14.0 st)
Nationality  England
Residence Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Career
Turned professional 1993
Current tour(s) European Tour (joined 1994)
PGA Tour
Professional wins 31
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 1
European Tour 20 (10th all time)
Japan Golf Tour 4
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters T6: 1999
U.S. Open 3rd: 2008
Open Championship T3: 2009
PGA Championship T3: 2009
Achievements and awards
European Tour
Order of Merit winner		 2000, 2009
European Tour
Golfer of the Year		 1998, 2000, 2009
Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000 and 2009 seasons. He has won the 2000 European Tour Order of Merit, and the renamed 2009 Race to Dubai. He has represented Europe for the last six consecutive Ryder Cups. He spent over 150 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1998 and 2001and returned to the top 10 at the end of the 2008 season and again after the 2009 PGA Championship.

Career outline

Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Westwood began to play golf aged 13 with a half set bought by grandparents. Maths teacher father, John, took up the game at same time to give his son encouragement. A talented sportsman at school, he played rugby, cricket and football. He had a later start at the game than many future tournament professionals, but less than two years later he was the junior champion of Nottinghamshire. In 1990 he won his first amateur tournament, the Peter McEvoy Trophy. In 1993 he won the British Youth Championship and turned professional.
In 1996 he won his first professional tournament, the Volvo Scandinavian Masters, closely followed by the Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters in Japan. His success continued in 1997 defending his Japanese title and winning the Malaysian Open, the Volvo Masters in Spain and the Holden Australian Open, beating Greg Norman in a playoff. He also partnered with Nick Faldo in the Ryder Cup that year.
Westwood has won 19 events on the European Tour and has also won tournaments in North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. His Official World Golf Ranking peaked at 4th, but he has made relatively little impact in the major championships. His most successful year to date has been 2000 when he won seven tournaments worldwide and was ranked first on the European Order of Merit, ending Colin Montgomerie's long run of European Tour dominance.
Westwood took a significant break from the game following the birth of son Samuel Bevan in 2001, and together with a restructuring of his swing under David Leadbetter, led to him being out of contention in tournaments until his 2003 victory in Germany, his 25th worldwide.
Westwood returned to the winners circle in 2007 by winning both the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia and the Quinn Direct British Masters to bring his total European Tour wins to 18. As a result he moved back into the top 50 if the Official World Golf Rankings. Westwood finished the 2007 season with five top 10 finishes in the last five events. He carried this form into the 2008 season, starting with two tied second places and a fifth, moving back into the top 20 in the world rankings.[4]. At the Masters, Westwood finished tied for 11th and he narrowly missed out on becoming the first European in 38 years to win the U.S. Open, finishing 3rd on level-par,[5] his best finish in a major. He followed this up in 2009 with two further 3rd place finishes, in the Open and the U.S. Open. In October 2009, Westwood ended his two-year wait for a tournament win by winning the Portugal Masters.[6] This was followed the next month with a win at the Dubai World Championship, which also brought with it the inaugural Race to Dubai title.[7]
Westwood is represented by International Sports Management.

Ryder Cup

Westwood made his Ryder Cup debut in 1997 where he partnered fellow Englishman Nick Faldo in both sets of fourballs and foursomes. In the 1999 Ryder Cup, he partnered Darren Clarke for the fourballs and foursomes, picking up 2 points. At the Belfry in 2002 he teamed up with Sergio García in a successful partnership in which they won 3 and lost 1 of their four matches. In the 2004 Ryder Cup, Westwood sank the putt which took Europe's points tally to 14 and thereby ensured that it would retain the Cup. Europe would eventually win 18½–9½. It was his first victory in singles. He and Darren Clarke were the wildcard selections in 2006[8] and Westwood justified his selection by not losing a game, a feat he had also achieved in 2004. He is the eighth most successful European golfer on points scored, with the second highest scoring rate.[9] During the 2008 Matches, Westwood sat out for the first session in his Ryder Cup career during the matches after a controversial decision by captain Nick Faldo. The European Team ended up losing to the U.S. 16.5-11.5.[10]

Personal life

Westwood married Laurae Coltart, the sister of Scottish Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart, in January 1999. The couple have two children, Samuel Bevan (born 2001) and Poppy Grace (born 2004). He is "good friends" with fellow Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke and from April 2006, he co-owns a private jet with him.[11] On 24 November 2007, Westwood was presented with an Honorary degree of Doctor of Science. It was presented by the Nottingham Trent University.[12] He announced the creation of the Lee Westwood Academy on the 5 February 2009, a set off three day academies across nine venues in England.[13] The Academy is sponsored by Ping, Solarsport, The Co-operative Group and the British Junior Golf Tour. In recognition of his work with young golfers, he was awarded with the Golf Foundation’s ‘Spirit of Golf’ Award just before the Open Championship, an award which was previously held by Gary Player and Tony Jacklin.[14] Westwood's interests include films, snooker, cars; and he is a big football fan who supports Nottingham Forest.

Amateur wins

  • 1990 Peter McEvoy Trophy
  • 1992 Lagonda Trophy
  • 1993 British Youths Championship, Leven Gold Medal

Professional wins (31)

European Tour wins (20)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of
Victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 4 Aug 1996 Volvo Scandinavian Masters -7 (69-75-69-68=281) Playoff England Paul Broadhurst, England Russell Claydon
2 2 Nov 1997 Volvo Masters Andalucia -16 (65-67-68=200) 3 strokes Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington
3 1 Jun 1998 Deutsche Bank-SAP Open-TPC of Europe -23 (69-69-61-66=265) 1 stroke Northern Ireland Darren Clarke
4 7 Jun 1998 National Car Rental English Open -17 (68-68-67-68=271) 2 strokes Australia Greg Chalmers, Sweden Olle Karlsson
5 11 Jul 1998 The Standard Life Loch Lomond -8 (69-69-89-70=276) 4 strokes Australia Robert Allenby, Sweden Dennis Edlund,
England David Howell, Scotland Gary Orr,
Argentina Eduardo Romero, Wales Ian Woosnam
6 4 Oct 1998 Belgacom Open -16 (67-68-67-66=268) Playoff Sweden Fredrik Jacobson, Sweden Robert Karlsson
7 25 Jul 1999 TNT Dutch Open -15 (72-68-66-63=269) 1 stroke Scotland Gary Orr
8 2 Aug 1999 Smurfit European Open -17 (69-67-70-65=271) 3 strokes Northern Ireland Darren Clarke, Australia Peter O'Malley
9 5 Sep 1999 Canon European Masters -14 (69-69-67-65=270) 2 strokes Denmark Thomas Bjørn
10 21 May 2000 Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe -15 (71-69-69-64=273) 3 strokes Italy Emanuele Canonica
11 25 Jun 2000 Compaq European Grand Prix -12 (68-68-70-70=276) 3 strokes Sweden Fredrik Jacobson
12 9 Jul 2000 Smurfit European Open -12 (71-68-71-66=276) 1 stroke Argentina Ángel Cabrera
13 6 Aug 2000 Volvo Scandinavian Masters -14 (63-67-69-71=270) 3 strokes New Zealand Michael Campbell
14 24 Sep 2000 Belgacom Open -18 (65-69-67-65=266) 4 strokes Argentina Eduardo Romero
15 31 Aug 2003 BMW International Open -19 (65-68-70-66=269) 3 strokes Germany Alex Čejka
16 28 Sep 2003 Dunhill Links Championship -21 (70-68-62-67=267) 1 stroke South Africa Ernie Els
17 13 May 2007 Valle Romano Open de Andalucia -20 (72-64-65-67=268) 2 strokes Sweden Fredrik Andersson Hed
18 23 Sep 2007 Quinn Direct British Masters -15 (68-70-70-65=273) 5 strokes England Ian Poulter
19 18 Oct 2009 Portugal Masters -23 (66-67-66-66=265) 2 strokes Italy Francesco Molinari
20 22 Nov 2009 Dubai World Championship -23 (66-69-66-64=265) 6 strokes England Ross McGowan

PGA Tour wins (1)

Japan Golf Tour wins (4)

Other wins (6)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP T24 44 T6
U.S. Open DNP DNP T19 T7 CUT
The Open Championship T96 CUT T10 T64 T18
PGA Championship DNP DNP T29 CUT T16
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters CUT DNP 44 DNP DNP CUT CUT T30 T11 43
U.S. Open T5 CUT DNP DNP T36 T33 DNP T36 3 T23
The Open Championship T64 T47 CUT CUT 4 CUT T31 T35 T67 T3
PGA Championship T15 T44 CUT CUT CUT T17 T29 T32 CUT T3
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Accenture Match Play Championship R64 R32 DNP R32 DNP R64 R32 R64 R64 R32 R32
CA Championship T4 2 NT1 DNP T35 T13 T51 T32 DNP T34 T61
Bridgestone Invitational T33 T20 WD T15 T46 T9 T24 WD T22 T2 9
HSBC Champions – – – – – – – – – – T8
1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

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