James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an
American professional golfer, known for consistently
playing at the top level and for a visibly
unconventional, looping golf swing. In September
2006 he reached a career high of second in the
Official World Golf Rankings. He has ranked in the
top-10 for over 250 weeks between 1999 and 2008.
Furyk was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His
early years were spent in the Pittsburgh suburbs
learning the game from his father, who was head pro
at Uniontown Country Club near Pittsburgh. He
graduated from Manheim Township High School in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1988 where he was
a standout basketball player in addition to being a
state champion golfer. He attended the University of
Arizona and turned professional in 1992.
Furyk won at least one tournament each year on the
PGA Tour between 1998 and 2003. At the time, this
was the second best streak of winning seasons behind
Tiger Woods and he made the top ten in the Official
World Golf Rankings. Furyk's biggest win to date
came on June 16, 2003, when he tied the record for
the lowest 72-hole score in U.S. Open history to win
his first major championship.
In 2004 he only played in fourteen events after
missing three months due to surgery to repair
cartilage damage in his wrist and he fell out of the
top hundred on the money list, but he returned to
good form in 2005 and regained his top ten ranking,
winning a PGA Tour event in that year and two in
2006.
In the 2006 season, he finished a career-high second
on the money list and won the Vardon Trophy for the
first time. He also had a career-best thirteen
top-10 finishes, including nine top-3s, four
second-place finishes, and two victories.
The only instructor he has ever used is his dad,
Mike Furyk, which may account for his unusual swing.
His caddy is Mike "Fluff" Cowan, who was Tiger
Woods' caddy for Woods' first two years as a
professional.
During the 2003 Buick Open on-course commentator
Mike Hulbert interviewed Furyk from what appeared to
be a snack bar during a rain delay while covering
the early rounds on USA Network. Other players (who
were not visible, nor identified) were in the room
at the time of Furyk's interview and proceeded to
throw popcorn at them from off camera as the
interview progressed. At one point Furyk even held
up a golf towel to block the popcorn as it got
worse, and he stated that: "It looks like it's pick
on Hubby day!"
