Jim Furyk PGA Grand Slam of Golf Profile

By Bob Denney, The PGA of America

Jim Furyk makes his third consecutive appearance and fourth overall in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which qualifies him as a fixture in the season-ending showcase event despite not securing a major Championship since a memorable 2003 U.S. Open triumph.

The reason Furyk will always be a candidate for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf is his skill in managing his game better than the majority of his peers.

The career statistics are our best resource. Furyk is perpetually in contention in majors and his gritty focus this year includes making the cut in 22 of 25 events, pocketing eight top-10 finishes and 12 top-25 performances.

Since playing full-time on the PGA Tour in 1994, he has made the cut in 317 of 387 events, has 123 top-10 finishes and owns 19 worldwide victories, including 13 on the Tour.

The past decade, the guy with the trademark unorthodox -- but repeatable -- swing has firmly planted himself among the best players in the game. His no. 9 world ranking comes from countless hours of hard work and a will to achieve perfection.

Furyk is someone his peers respect on Sunday when his name appears on the leaderboard and he is perpetually in some competitor's rear view mirror.

His victory at Olympia Fields in the 2003 U.S. Open, which featured a 72-hole scoring record of 272, was Furyk's statement-maker. By winning, he became the 57th player to make the U.S. Open his first career major championship.

Furyk took up golf because he enjoyed the individuality of the game. He was a better-than-average football, baseball and basketball player and a competitive swimmer. He started putting cross-handed at age 7.

Furyk played midget football until age 13, and remains a devoted Steelers fan.

Like his beloved Steelers, Furyk is the epitome of resilience, having made a steady recovery from surgery in 2004 to repair cartilage in his left wrist.

He sat out two months but came back to win a berth on that year's Ryder Cup Team and capture the 2005 Cialis Western Open.

In 2006, Furyk finished a career-high second on the money list and captured the Vardon Trophy for the first time. He also had a career-best 13 top-10 finishes, including nine top-threes, four second-place finishes, and two victories.

Furyk in 2007 maintained that high level of performance that we have come to expect from one who reaches the next level of excellence as a tour professional. Though winless, he was another model in consistency with eight top-10 performances in 25 events, including a share of fifth in the Open Championship.

Also in 2007, Furyk became the first player since Jim Ferrier (1950- 51) to successfully defend his title in the Bell Canadian Open.

Unlike many of his peers, Furyk does not have to hire an outside-the-family swing coach. His father, Mike, a one-time club professional, is his son's only golf instructor.

Mike Furyk did what the spotlight instructors in the game have preached for years -- don't fix what isn't broken and what comes naturally to a player.

As Jim Furyk steps to the tee for the third year in a row in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, we can anticipate without reservation that he will once again either be challenging for the lead or coming up fast in the rear view mirror.