Jim Furyk can still take it low and had himself a nice warmup last week at the Sony Open.
Furyk opened with an eight-under par 62 last Thursday that included a hole-in-one and closed with a Sunday 65. Those rounds book-ended a pair of 72s that prevented Furyk from having a really good finish. As it was, he made the cut and tied for 42nd.
But the PGA Tour isn’t his primary gig anymore. He’s a force on the Champions Tour and will be one of the favorites when the “older gentlemen” crank up their 2022 season this week at the Mitsubishi Electric event at Hualalai.
Miguel Angel Jimenez is the defending champion.
Furyk finished runner-up to Bernhard Langer last season in the Charles Schwab Cup and with Langer a year older, Furyk should be one of the players to watch in this year’s hunt for the top spot on the over-50 set.
Jimenez finished third in the Schwab Cup standings followed by Ernie Els and Jerry Kelly.
Kelly joined Furyk in the Sony field last week but with rounds of 69-71, he missed the36-hole cut.
Korn Ferry Tour Back In Action In Bahamas:
The Korn Ferry Tour’s new season got underway Sunday at Sandals Emerald Bay.
Evan Harmeling, Harry Hall and Xinjun Zhang all shot 68s to share the first round lead at the Great Exuma Classic.
PGA Tour Back Stateside For American Express:
What used to be the Bob Hope has morphed into the American Express and the PGA Tour is back stateside at LaQuinta this week.
Last year, Si Woo Kim birdied two of his final three holes down the stretch on Sunday to shoot 23-under par and edged Patrick Cantlay by a shot.
Cameron Davis finished three back while Tony Finau was fourth at 19-under par.
6 Comments
baxter cepeda
I’d still watch for Bernie at the top of the Champions tour standings.
Waialae is one of the few examples on the pga tour of how great golf competitions at the highest level can be when it doesn’t come down to who hits it the furthest off the tee.
The surprise wasn’t Jim’s 8 under Thursday but how flat he came out the next days. Jim can still win the Sony imo.
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As for the Am Ex, man that event gets sleepier and sleepier. They really gotta do something there.
Tom Edrington
We’re writing about Bernie for Wednesday.
baxter cepeda
Look forward to it.
Hopefully our boy Ken Tanigawa can bring it at Hualalai. He deserves a little more job security. IMO Too many guys on the champions tour have too much job security thanks to their regular pga tour days. They can pack it in whenever they want with little consequence, and from what I hear some do quite a bit. That’s what makes that champions tour so relaxed for guys coming off long runs on the pga tour.
Meanwhile recent major champions on the 5o and over tour can find themselves in trouble soon after their big wins. IMO these guys need to be rewarded with more job security and the guys cruising thanks to their regular tour success could have a tiny bit more pressure on them to perform more consistently on this tour, like Bernie of course.
That being said even the guys finding success late in life on the champions tour can learn a ring or two from Bernies work ethic and commitment to fighting for every shot day in and day out.
Tom Edrington
Truth be known, the Champions Tour is a very closed shop….I remember the early days, it drove the Tour nuts when guys like Walt Zembrisky were out there. This tour makes it difficult to 1. get there and 2. stay there if you weren’t a star on the regular tour.
baxter cepeda
Yes and That leaves them with a few too many fat cats walking around.
I get real superstars playing mediocre on the champions tour. But mediocre regular tour players should have a bit more pressure on them. Because There are a lot of really good and hungry 50 year olds out there which should have some of those fat cats spots instead.
Tom Edrington
Sadly, it doesn’t work that way, they want name guys playing.