Furyk claims title with closing 65

From off the green, Jim Furyk was rarely off the mark.

Furyk stormed back from a five-shot deficit Sunday as he fired a dazzling 7-under-par 65 that gave him a two-stroke victory and ended Tiger Woods' three-year stranglehold at the $4.5 million Memorial.

Furyk's final round was filled with fantastic shots, many from off the green on the back nine, when he charged past a star-studded leaderboard and into the lead. Among his best were a pitch-and-roll from the fringe for a birdie at No. 12 and a blast out of a bunker for a pivotal eagle at No. 15.

"I probably wouldn't be ranked as the best bunker player, in the top 10 of the best bunker players on tour," Furyk said. "But I don't mind knocking those in late on Sunday. That reputation I could handle."

Having struggled with his game of late, Furyk battled his long game over the last two holes. But 1997 winner Vijay Singh, David Peoples and John Cook could not catch Furyk, whose 14-under 274 was the lowest winning total here in five years.

This has been an eventful tournament for Furyk. He met his wife, Tabitha, here in 1995 and the couple is expecting their first child July 3. In 1997, he lost to Singh by two strokes and finished fourth the following year.

"It's a fun week," Furyk said. "I know my wife looks forward to coming back to Columbus and we spend a little time here. ... It's comfortable. A lot of good gatherings at night. We always have kind of a Friday night dinner with some friends."

It was the seventh career victory for Furyk, who has won once each of the last five years. He collected $810,000.

Peoples and Cook tied for second at 12-under 276. Singh was another shot back among a group of five that included David Duval, who fired a 66.

Woods also shot a 66 after three straight rounds in the 70s and finished at 6-under 282. He failed in a bid for his fourth straight win here, which would have tied the all-time PGA record for most consecutive victories in the same event, set by Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen in the 1920s.

"I played a little better today," Woods said. "I finally got a couple putts to go in the hole."

Woods began the day tied with the legendary Jack Nicklaus, who shot a 7-over 79 for 295. Nevertheless, the tournament host got a rousing ovation as he completed his round.

"I feel fine, I just didn't have much today," Nicklaus said. "I wanted to play. I wanted to play hard. I tried to play hard. I tried to do the best I could. Sometimes it's not there."

Third-round leader Bob Tway faltered on the front nine and Furyk made his move on the back. At the par-3 12th, his pitch from 25 feet appeared to be a bit fast but skipped right into the hole.

"It's a really quick, tough shot," Furyk said. "It probably would've gone a good six to eight feet by had it missed the hole. And you just have to hit that one perfect for it to end up right next to the hole."

Furyk birdied 14 to maintain a share of the lead with Peoples, playing one hole behind him. At the par-5 15th, Furyk's third shot found a greenside bunker, but his wedge dropped onto the green and rolled in.

"I caught a decent lie, but a tough bunker shot, and just happened to hit the right shot," Furyk said. "I didn't land it too far onto the green or on the fringe. I couldn't really see the level of the green.

"The last thing I saw was, I kind of positioned my head up and saw that it was right on line with the pin. So I just waited for a reaction and hoping and the fans went nuts."

Cook said he heard the roar of the crowd, "but we didn't know what the heck it was."

"All of a sudden, you see guys are scrambling, putting Jim's name up on the board and putting a number up there," Cook said. "All of a sudden, it's at 14 and we all kind of went, `Wow, where did that one come from?'"

Moments later, Peoples ran a birdie try past the cup and missed the comebacker for a three-shot swing. Furyk drained an eight-foot birdie at No. 16, maintaining a three-shot lead over Peoples, who left an eagle putt short at 15. Peoples finished with a 68.

"I'm just real happy with the way I played," Peoples said. "I can't believe it's over, really. I was kind of in a trance out there."

Singh birdied 14 and nearly eagled 15 to also move within striking distance. But he finished par-par-bogey for a 69.

Perhaps Furyk's best shot from off the green came after his approach at the par-4 17th found thick grass beneath trees. He hacked it out on a high arc and it bounced right past the cup.

"At the time it was a smart play to knock it 15 feet past the hole and try to make the putt from there," Furyk said.

Furyk missed the par putt coming back but safely two-putted for par at 18. Cook stayed in it temporarily with a 40-foot birdie at 16. But on the next hole, he pushed a 10-foot birdie putt right, closing par-par for a 69.

Tway joined Singh, Duval, Harrison Frazar (67) and Shigeki Maruyama (70) at 277. Stewart Cink, who began the day one shot behind Tway, also shot 73 and finished tied with Phil Mickelson (69), Jerry Kelly (68) and Billy Andrade (67) at 10-under 278

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page