October 13, 2007
Adminstaff Small Business Classic
September 30, 2007
Viking Classic
September 30, 2007
Viking Classic
Frederick "Fred" Funk (born June 14, 1956) is an
American professional golfer.
Funk was born in Takoma Park, Maryland. He graduated
from the University of Maryland, College Park in
1980 with a degree in law enforcement. He turned
professional in 1981 but worked as a golf coach at
his alma mater from 1982 to 1988, not becoming a
member of the PGA Tour until 1989.
He picked up a number of wins from 1992 onwards, and
without quite becoming one of the top stars on the
tour, did well enough to reach the top 20 on the
career money list. He was a member of the United
States teams at the 2003 and 2005 Presidents Cup and
the 2004 Ryder Cup.
Since turning 50 in June 2006, Funk has been
eligible for Champions Tour events and debuted in
the 2006 U.S. Senior Open. When he turned 50, he
still featured in the top 50 of the Official World
Golf Rankings. He won a further PGA Tour tournament
in 2007 after his senior debut, becoming only the
second over-50 player to win on the PGA Tour in over
thirty years, though his win came at the Mayakoba
Golf Classic, which was an alternate event to the
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, so none of
the world's top 64 ranked players were in the field.
By winning the first Mayakoba Golf Classic Funk
became the first man to win a PGA Tour event held in
Mexico.
Funk is generally regarded as one of the shortest
drivers on today's PGA Tour, but is always at or
near the top of the driving accuracy statistics. In
fact, many of his playing competitors are now
regarding him as perhaps the straightest driver to
ever play golf; in the past 14 years, Funk has
achieved the highest driving accuracy on the PGA
Tour seven times, and has been in the top five of
this statistic for every year in that period--save
one.
On March 28, 2005 he picked up the biggest win of
his career, becoming the oldest player ever to win
The Players Championship as well as the Skins Game,
during which, to satisfy a friendly bet, he wore a
pink skirt that Annika Sörenstam pulled out of her
golf bag when she outdrove Funk on the par five
third hole. The skirt was actually picked out by his
wife, Sharon.
A popular player on tour, his fans are referred to
as "Funk's Punks." The iconic songs -- Play That
Funky Music, and We Want the Funk -- have become
theme songs for the fan favorite.
He currently resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida,
USA.
