Furyk on top of the World.
September 27th 2010 12:58
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
He looked to his left. Then to his right. Then back to his left. Then right again.
The question had been asked of Jim Furyk, the rain-drenched owner of two new trophies that were sitting contently within arm's reach Sunday afternoon. Which one meant more?
To his right was the shiny silver Tiffany trophy representing the FedExCup. To his left was the Waterford crystal trophy for winning THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
The FedExCup meant a season's worth of accomplishments, and a big prize at the end -- the $10 million bonus. THE TOUR Championship meant he had won his third event this year, first time in his career. And he had done it on a course he loves (East Lake) and in final-round conditions that were a true test of a golfer's ability to withstand the pressure (heavy) and the elements (rainy).
Furyk took his time in answering the question. He worked through the process, much like he worked through Sunday's 18 intense holes. He wanted his response to be thought out, not flippant. He finally pointed to the FedExCup.
"This one," he said.
Then he explained.
"They both mean a lot, to be honest with you," he said. "But this one is a season. ... I focused all week on trying to win this one (pointing to THE TOUR Championship trophy) and hoped this one (the FedExCup) could come true."
In its fourth year of existence, the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup delivered the kind of nerve-tingling, white-knuckle drama that it was supposed to create. The outcome was not decided until Furyk's final par putt from 2-1/2 feet on the 18th hole found the bottom of the cup.
Had he missed, it would have forced a sudden-death playoff with Luke Donald for both the tournament championship and the FedExCup. It would have extended what already had been a long (due to a 110-minute weather delay) and, for some players, confusing (due to all the wild FedExCup scenarios and projections) day.
After all, until the final hole, several players still had the opportunity to deposit the $10 million bonus.
Matt Kuchar, who came to East Lake as the points leader but never found his game, had a promising back-door path if he simply finished solo 25th while Nick Watney, sizzling on the front nine, emerged as the tournament winner. Charley Hoffman and Paul Casey started the day needing only to move up the leaderboard. Donald, Watney, Retief Goosen -- each had legitimate opportunities to overtake Furyk if they could just make one last push.
Not that many of the contenders spent much time trying to figure out the various projections.
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