Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk was one of the most consistent golfers on the PGA Tour from the mid-1990s continuing into the 2010s. He was known for his quirky swing, straight driving and a good-guy persona.

Date of birth: May 12, 1970
Place of birth: West Chester, Pa.

Tour Victories:

17 (see list)

Major Championships:

1
U.S. Open: 2003

Furyk's Awards and Honors

• PGA Tour Player of the Year, 2010
• PGA Vardon Trophy winner (low scoring average), 2006
• Member, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014
• Member, U.S. Presidents Cup team, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011

Trivia About Jim Furyk

• Jim Furyk was the first golfer in PGA Tour history to shoot 58 during a tour event. He did it at the 2016 Travelers Championship in the final round. And because he had previously carded a 59 during another tour event, Furyk became the first golfer in tour history with two sub-60 rounds.

Quote, Unquote

• Jim Furyk: "Winning golf tournaments is what's important to me."
• Writer Bob Harig on Furyk's swing: "The club goes back and visits places along the swing plane never advocated by the golf gurus. Somehow, it returns to the same place, time after time, shot after shot, substance over style. Today, nobody can argue its beauty."

Jim Furyk Biography

Jim Furyk is known for his excellent short game, consistency, and for being one of the PGA Tour's "nice guys." But more than that, he's known for a very unorthodox swing.

It's a swing that doesn't produce great power, but does yield great accuracy off the tee. It's been described as a looping swing, one in which Furyk takes the club back very steeply and very high, then severely reroutes on the way back down.

Golf broadcaster David Feherty famously said that Furyk's swing resembles "an octopus falling out of a tree." Another commentator, Gary McCord, said it looked like Furyk was trying to swing inside a phone booth.

Whatever it looks like, it works: Furyk is double-digit winner on the PGA Tour, including one major championship.

He learned his unorthodox swing from his father, Mike, a club pro at Uniontown Country Club near Pittsburgh. Furyk also started putting crosshanded at a very young age and putted that way through most of his career, also with excellent results.

In high school, Furyk won the Pennsylvania state golf title and also played basketball. He attended the University of Arizona, where he was a two-time All-America selection.

Furyk turned pro in 1992 and played the Nationwide Tour in 1993, winning once and finishing 26th on the money list. He earned his Tour card at Q-School and 1994 was his rookie season on the PGA Tour.

His first PGA Tour win came at the 1995 Las Vegas Invitational, a tournament that was the site of three of his first four tour victories. Furyk's first big-money year was 1997; he didn't win a tournament that year, but did finish fourth on the money list.

He's been very consistent since then, finishing third on the money list in 1998 and second in 2006, and usually (when playing a full year) inside the Top 20.

Furyk's first major championship win was at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields in Chicago, where he set a 36-hole scoring record (133), a 54-hole record (200), and tied the 72-hole record (272).

An injured wrist required surgery at the start of 2004 and Furyk missed the first half of the season. But he got back on track by winning the Western Open in 2005.

Furyk had a great year in 2006, winning twice, posting 14 Top 10s and winning the Vardon Trophy. He also reached No. 2 in the world rankings that year. He topped it in 2010 with the first 3-win season of his career that culminated in a victory at the Tour Championship and winning the FedEx Cup championship. He was named PGA Player of the Year for those efforts.

At the 2013 BMW Championship, in the second round, Furyk became the sixth golfer to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour tournament. But he topped himself three years later at the 2016 Travelers Championship: In the final round, Furyk shot 58 - the first 58 in PGA Tour history.

Furyk was a regular during his career on the USA's Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams. At the 2011 Presidents Cup, Furyk compiled a 5-0-0 record, and at that point he was the winningest player in Presidents Cup history.

Early in 2017, was announced that Furyk will be the team captain for the American side in the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Page 2: List of Furyk's career wins

Here is the list of PGA Tour victories by Jim Furyk, listed in chronological order:

1995
Las Vegas Invitational

1996
United Airlines Hawaiian Open

1998
Las Vegas Invitational

1999
Las Vegas Invitational

2000
Doral-Ryder Open

2001
Mercedes Championship

2002
The Memorial Tournament

2003
U.S. Open
Buick Open

2005
Cialis Western Open

2006
Wachovia Championship
Canadian Open

2007
Canadian Open

2010
Transitions Championship
Verizon Heritage
Tour Championship

2015
RBC Heritage

Find out where Furyk ranks on the all-time list of PGA Tour wins