Jim Furyk can’t believe 20 years have passed since his epic seven-hole playoff with Tiger Woods at Firestone Country Club.
“No. Might feel like 30 … ” Furyk said.
While the loss remains “bittersweet,” Furyk was able to joke about the memory and his advancing age as he shifts his commitment to the PGA Tour Champions.
Furyk, 51, returns to Akron for the first time in five years for the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, one of five senior majors that opens Thursday at Firestone’s famed South Course.
When he arrives at a venue that he played for decades on the PGA Tour, Furyk said he’s usually first struck by his body of work. That will certainly be the case in the Rubber City.
In 17 appearances at Firestone for the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational from 1999-2016, Furyk recorded five top-five finishes and eight top-10s, including his first five tournaments. He finished second twice, to Woods in 2001 and to Keegan Bradley in 2012, took solo third in 2006 and tied for third in 2015.
“Definitely feel like it was a place that I should have won in my career,” Furyk said in a June 9 telephone interview. “I’m definitely a little bit heartbroken because I like the golf course so much and it’s a place I didn’t win.
“Riviera in LA would be a golf course I would say something like that about, Colonial in Fort Worth. Three of my favorite courses and I’ve had very good finishes at all of them. I think I finished second at Colonial a couple times (1998, 2007). Those are the kind of golf courses I’ve loved in my career, but wasn’t able to win at.”
When asked to recall a few Firestone memories, Furyk turned back the clock to the duel with Woods in the 2001 NEC Invitational. The playoff remains CBS’ highest-rated golf broadcast from Firestone. That bested 1988 (Mike Reid beat Tom Watson in a playoff), 1989 (David Frost beat Ben Crenshaw in a playoff), 2005 (Woods won by one shot over Chris DiMarco) and 2000 (Woods’ “Shot in the dark” victory finish).
Jim Nantz, the voice of CBS, wasn’t surprised by the playoff’s ratings distinction.
Jim Furyk walks past a lake to the third green during the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country Club, Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, in Akron, Ohio.
“Tiger won a lot of the tournaments there in a runaway,” Nantz said in a 2018 Beacon Journal interview as Woods recorded eight victories at Firestone. “People would still watch because it was Tiger. But that was a playoff that lasted seven holes. It was high-stakes drama.”
Remembering the 2001 NEC Invitational playoff with Tiger Woods
The two alternated playing Nos. 17 and 18, and Woods won with a two-foot birdie putt at No. 18, while Furyk sliced his tee shot under a pine tree and made bogey. Furyk, who led or stood tied for the lead after the first three rounds, also missed three birdie putts of 12 feet or less.
“I have great memories of that and also disappointing as well,” Furyk said. “Tiger definitely pulled some magic out a few different times, as I did. But it did have some drama.”
Furyk’s most stunning shot came when he holed out from the sand to save par on the first playoff hole. He failed to get out of the bunker at No. 18 on his third shot, but his fourth rolled straight to the hole, circled the cup 360 degrees, and fell in.
“Holing the bunker shot, that would have been the best shot of the day, that’s the one I remember. I probably don’t remember them all, I’ll have to go back and read [the] articles, I’m over 50 now,” he joked.
Akron provides plenty of memories for Furyk family
Furyk also called the 2012 loss to Bradley “a heartbreaker,” accurately remembering his double bogey at 18. He was beaten by a shot as Bradley sank a 15-foot putt for par.
But when it was pointed out that Furyk led that tournament for 71 holes, he said, “Yes, I’ve got some good memories there.”
This year those will be amplified. Furyk said his daughter Caleigh, 19, a sophomore at Belmont University, and son Tanner, 17, a senior at The Bolles School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., are attending only one to three of his tournaments in 2021 and chose to accompany him and wife Tabitha to Akron.
“They have some great memories from when they were younger,” he said of his children.
Furyk said the family used to bring their dog, stay in Cuyahoga Falls and go on hikes together. They attended Rubber Ducks (then-Akron Aeros) minor league baseball games and ate at their favorite restaurants, later supplemented by recommendations from 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis, who lives in Stow.
Jim Furyk during the second round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
“We went to the drive-in in Ravenna, which they thought was the coolest thing, we don’t have any of those near our home in Florida,” Furyk said. “When they were young, we’d get an SUV and open the hatch and watch a movie. We were all together in middle America, a fun place for families to be.”
The Jim & Tabitha Furyk Foundation hosted its 9th annual Hope for the Holidays event to fill bags of food for needy families. The Furyks — Tanner (from left), Jim, Tabitha and Caleigh — were pleased that the event raised food to feed more than 5,000 Jacksonville area families.
These days are different, but Furyk’s success has continued.
Turning focus to PGA Champions Tour
In 2020, he won his first two events on the Champions Tour, choosing familiar courses where he’d excelled. He captured the Ally Challenge at Warwick Hills (Michigan) and the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach (California). He’s finished in the top 25 in all 13 Champions Tour events he’s entered in 2020-21, also with a second, a tie for fourth (on June 13 in Madison, Wisconsin) and eight top 10s.
But it wasn’t until May that Furyk decided to commit to the Champions Tour.
“Early in the year we had some events overseas that got canceled on the Champions Tour, so I played two of the three Champions Tour events, but I played mostly on the PGA Tour,” Furyk said. “As soon as May hit, I’ve focused just on the Champions Tour and that’s kind of what I’ll do for the future. I’m happy and comfortable out here. Not that I won’t go play the PGA Tour anymore, but I’m going to play 90% of my golf out here.
“Just kind of felt it was time to turn the page and move out here.”
Furyk has won 17 PGA Tour events, including the 2003 U.S. Open and 2010 Tour Championship, which earned him that year’s FedEx Cup and player of the year honors. He shot the official record for the lowest 18 holes on the PGA Tour, carding a 58 in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship. He played on nine Ryder Cup teams and seven Presidents Cup teams. He served as the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2018 loss to Europe at Le Golf National, Paris.
That’s why it took some time for Furyk to come to grips with the decision to play on the 50-and-over circuit, even though he’s seen an influx of friends join him of late.
“I had to get it kind of right in my head that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “Was it hard? I don’t know. I wanted to make sure I was positive. A couple of my friends turned 50 and they just said ‘Adios,’ never saw them again.
“I probably got six months into it before I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s the right time and I want to turn the page.’”
Furyk said in the future, he will be wise on the courses he chooses.
“I think Torrey Pines is a fine golf course, but it makes no sense for me to go play the event in February there when it’s cold and wet and damp and the course is 7,600 yards long and I’m giving up 40 yards off the tee,” he said. “I’ve got a lot more opportunities out here to compete and put myself in contention more often. Everyone likes to wake up on Sundays with opportunities to win tournaments.”
For a time on the Champions Tour, Furyk said he felt like a rookie because he had to use MapQuest to get to unfamiliar courses. He didn’t know the location of the locker room or the registration area, where to stay or where to eat.
That will not be the case in Akron for Furyk and his family.
When one of the players’ favorites, the Diamond Grille, was mentioned, Furyk said, “Probably still cash, I imagine.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.