I’m sure you’re aware of the fact that Jim Furyk had arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left wrist last March and was unable to compete for nearly three months after. When he returned later in 2004, he had two top-10 finishes and mentioned something about his positive results being “gravy”. I thought to myself, “Gravy? How can gravy relate to playing superb golf?” After hours of rigorous Google research and intense squeezing of a squishy stress relief ball, I have come to the simple conclusion that “gravy” is another term for “the icing on the cake”, used to describe Furyk’s comeback.
With a rather successful beginning to the 2005 season (six top-10 finishes and one missed cut through sixteen events), you could consider the “gravy” period over. He is now deep into the mashed potatoes and three rounds away from the bottom of the bowl. Just in case I lost anyone with my horrible analogy, Furyk’s first round three-stroke lead at the Barclays Classic is considered the mashed potatoes and his first win since wrist surgery is the bottom of the bowl.
Just watching highlights of Jim Furyk’s goofy swing today made my wrist hurt. But I won’t dwell on the wrist surgery topic any further beacuse Jim wants us to forget about it, saying “I don’t view myself as really coming back from anything now. It was last year, it’s over.”
With that off of our minds, Furyk had seven birdies and one bogey on the day. His score of 65 (-6) was tough to match. A group of six players finished tied for second with a score of 68 (-3). This group includes Vijay Singh (two time champion of the Barclays Classic), Kenny Perry, Ian Leggatt, Hidemichi Tanaka, John Rollins, and Brian Bateman. Rollins and Leggatt are both coming off of their performance at the U.S. Open; that is, their performance of exiting the tournament early after being cut.
Each player’s first round took close to five-and-a-half hours to complete. The No. 2 ranked player in the world Vijay Singh was rather annoyed by the pace of play. “It’s ridiculous, I mean, you play a round of golf in five hours and wait on every shot,” he said. “Every shot out there on the front nine, you had to wait. You get fed up with it. I don’t know if anyone ever withdrew after nine holes for slow play.” I suppose he didn’t want to be tardy to his date with the Westchester Country Club driving range. He later released his anger there, on the range, by digging numerous trenches in the ground with his wedges while practicing.
The Players Champion and a fan favorite Fred Funk was included in a group of six players at 69 (-2) followed by a large pack of 14 players stuck at 70 (-1). Sergio Garcia who, like Vijay, has won this tournament twice finished with a 72 (+1).
One of the largest disappointments found during the first round was the nine-over par performance by Spencer Levin. This is Levin’s second event since turning pro. Levin’s U.S. Amateur nemesis Ryan Moore played his first round as a professional today, shooting 71. It will be interesting to see if he can make it to the weekend rounds.
Our prior “Tour Jackass of the Week” Rory Sabatini, who finished tied for second here last year, also had a tough first round at Westchester Country Club. Currently he is tied for 143rd place with a 79.
Yesterday in the Barclays Classic preview, Cody Thrasher chose Jim Furyk as the one to watch out for. That choice was “pin-high” following the first round but Tim Clark, Cody’s “sleeper pick”, is currently sleeping at three-over par.
Quick Stats of the First Round:
- Jim Furyk had a score of 30 on the back nine.
- Furyk had 28 putts and is T17 for putts per round in the tournament so far.
- Furyk three-putted from 28 feet at the 9th hole for bogey.
- Sergio Garcia ended his streak of 19 consecutive rounds of par or better after a score of 72 today.
The second round of the Barclays Classic can be seen on USA Network from 4-6pm ET. For those of you with XM Radio, you can listen to coverage from 12-6pm ET on channel 146. Just in case you miss any coverage, we will recap every round right here at The Sand Trap.
Pos Player R1 Tot 1 Jim Furyk 65 -6 T2 Vijay Singh 68 -3 T2 Kenny Perry 68 -3 T2 Hidemichi Tanaka 68 -3 T2 Brian Bateman 68 -3 T2 Ian Leggatt 68 -3 T2 John Rollins 68 -3 T8 Fred Funk 69 -2 T8 J.L. Lewis 69 -2 T8 Joe Ogilvie 69 -2 T8 John Senden 69 -2 T8 Brian Gay 69 -2 T8 Patrick Sheehan 69 -2 T14 Bill Glasson 70 -1 T14 Larry Mize 70 -1 T14 Omar Uresti 70 -1 T14 Tom Byrum 70 -1 T14 Skip Kendall 70 -1 T14 Kevin Sutherland 70 -1 T14 J.P. Hayes 70 -1 T14 Tom Pernice, Jr. 70 -1 T14 Mathias Gronberg 70 -1 T14 Jeff Brehaut 70 -1 T14 Paul Gow 70 -1 T14 Pat Perez 70 -1 T14 Lucas Glover 70 -1 T14 David Hearn 70 -1
2 thoughts on “Furyk Holds Lead After Slow First Round of Barclays Classic”