CHARLOTTE – A year ago, Jim Furyk walked off the Quail Hollow Club course with wildly mixed emotions.
He conceded to being “bitter” and “heartbroken” about losing the Wachovia Championship in a final-round playoff against Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia, in which Singh prevailed.
But he found profound encouragement in having fired a final-round 66 that had gotten him into the playoff in the first place and validated his comeback from wrist surgery.
“Last year I was kind of trying to climb back after surgery and a rough ’04 where I didn’t play the first half of the year and then didn’t play as well as I wanted to at the end of the year,” Furyk said yesterday. “I wanted to get over the hump. I wanted to get a win, I wanted to quit answering the questions about when it was going to come.
“So, I think I was a little disappointed, maybe a touch heartbroken, in the playoff. But I also looked at it as a pretty big steppingstone. I knew I was back on track, so it was a good feeling also.”
Furyk’s feelings can get nothing but better if he follows the 68 he shot in yesterday’s Wachovia Championship third round to take a one-shot lead over Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman with another low round in today’s final round.
Furyk, who won once last year, has taken at least a share of the lead into the final round 11 times in his career, and won five of those events.
“I’m playing pretty decent,” he deadpanned.
Furyk and the rest of the field will have to contend with more than the pressure that comes with a final round today; they’re going to have to deal with some inclement weather.
Rain, heavy at times, is forecasted all day, forcing tournament officials to begin the final round in threesomes at 9 a.m. and the event expected to finish at around 2:30 p.m.
Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open winner, will have plenty of pursuers today.
Goosen, the two-time U.S. Open winner, is right behind him and playing very well, as evidenced by the 65 he shot yesterday.
That Furyk and Goosen – with three U.S. Opens between them – are atop the leaderboard is no accident, considering that Quail Hollow Club has a lot of U.S. Open course characteristics to it.
“I do like the course,” Goosen said. “It’s a great U.S. Open course. It’s tough. You need to grind it out there. I think it’s quite similar to Winged Foot, so it’s great preparation for the U.S. Open.”
The best story lurking might be 52-year-old Jay Haas, who’s 5-under, the same as his son, Bill.
