US PGA: On the Sunday night of his US Open win at Olympia Fields in Chicago, all of eight weeks ago, Jim Furyk's back was sore from the amount of well-wishing slapping that his ample frame was forced to accept. Philip Reid on how the US Open winner can conquer again.
And, along with the back-thumping, invariably came comments along the lines of, "now, you're life is going to change".
Yesterday, two days before he set off in quest of a season's second major, Furyk wondered what all the fuss was about. "I don't feel as if my life has changed at all. I don't feel like I'm a different player. Sure, it was a rewarding experience. One that I will never forget and I'll draw a lot of confidence from it. It's by far the crowning point of my career . . . (but) having a child was a life-changing event. A major championship didn't really change too much."
There, in a nutshell, you have it. Furyk is not your typical superstar. He's a down-to-earth kind of guy who simply gets on with playing golf, which is what pays the bills. With Furyk, you don't get the frills.
What you get is an unique, unorthodox swing that repeats time and again and invariably results in the ball finishing in the middle of the fairway. It may be yards and yards behind the bigger hitters, but more often than not it is on the short grass. That's Furyk's great trait.
If missing the cut in the British Open at Sandwich was a bit of a comedown, Furyk bounced back a fortnight ago by winning the Buick Open - Tiger Woods was runner-up - and, for someone who hasn't won as often in his career as people would have expected, becoming a multiple winner on the US Tour this season has confirmed his arrival as the genuine article. Up to fifth in the world rankings, every time Furyk tees it up his expectations are ever greater.
"I don't think I am a different player than I was two months ago or on June 1st, before the US Open came along. Mentally, it's an edge. I know I can do it rather than thinking I can do it. If I didn't have that confidence in myself, I would have never won the US Open.
"So I had that confidence all the time - it's just that now it is a little mental edge, the fact that I know I can do it. I can draw on that experience. And it is great too to get the taste of victory, because you want to do it again. And again."
Since his win in the Buick, Furyk drifted back to being the family man. He played a father-son competition with his dad, Mike, his only coach, and he went fishing. Now, though, it's time to get back to business and Furyk is ready for the challenge.
"I spent the weekend preparing for this tournament and it was nice that I was playing well and knew exactly what I needed to work on coming here. But winning the Buick? It doesn't mean I am going to play well or play poorly this week. It really makes no bearing on this week, I would think."
