I love it when a good guy wins.
But, don't let the quiet demeanor fool you, Jim Furyk is out to win, week in and week out. A well rounded athlete, who also played some pretty good basketball in his younger days, his professional golf record reads as one of the most consistent and second only to Tiger Woods. The number of top ten finishes speaks for itself. A perennial $4 million dollar winner (or more) every year, including a $7 million dollar peak in 2006, Furyk deserves his spot as one of the best golfers of his generation.
This is an amazing fact, when you consider that Furyk is not particularly long off the tee, nor is he recognized as "the best" in any specific category. The thing is... he does nothing poorly.
I had the chance to see it for myself, when Jim won the Canadian Open for the second time in 2007. I followed him from hole to hole on Sunday and marvelled at how deadly accurate he was. He was embroiled in a close battle versus arch rival Vijay Singh (then at his peak). The cool, slow and unemotional course management and razor sharp execution reminded me of surgery. In fact, if Freddie Couples has always reminded me of a smooth lawyer, Jim Furyk has always come across as a guy who could have been a surgeon.
Always on the right side of every fairway, approaching every pin from the smart side, good putts that always have a chance and are almost never left short. The man just seems intelligent and cool in the face of everything. Consistency is Jim Furyk's trademark...
Sure, nobody will ever mistake Jim Furyk for Ian Poulter. He will never be very flamboyant, but he works the course and grinds out every stroke. He may never give you a fist pump or get excited and spike his hat, nor will you see him throw his putter or utter a profanity.
A client of mine once gave me a big turtle carved out of jade as a gift. At first, I was not sure what to make of it. This lovely Asian lady explained that the turtle is revered in Chinese culture, for its dogged determination and tireless work. "How strong is a turtle, that it always carries a heavy burden on its back, but never complains nor congratulates itself?" Isn't that Jim Furyk through and through?
Like it has been said so many times before, slow and steady wins the race...
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