Jim Furyk Leads After Round One of the Transitions

Jim Furyk, a veteran golfer with 13 wins in 392 starts over 15 seasons on the PGA TOUR shot a 6-under 65 to take the first round lead of the Transitions Championship.

The 2003 United States Open champion known for his consistent performance did not win last season for the first time in four years and only the second time dating back to 1998.  

As a non-winner last year he was not eligible for the season opening Mercedes Benz Championship at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii where he owns a second home. Usually he starts his year off there followed by the SONY Open in Hawaii.

Last year and the start of this year was different for the soon-to-be 39-year old competitor.

“The design was I played too much golf last year and too many events, and just mentally was not in the right frame of mind of where I wanted to be," Furyk said. "(I) wasn't excited about coming to the golf course, so it was time to put them away for a while and now I'm back in a much better frame of mind.”

Extending the holiday season by skipping the SONY and not teeing it up until the mid-February AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has given Jim a chance to rest and come out strong this year.

At the Match Play in the WGC Accenture he won two matches before being beat by Ross Fisher finishing tied for ninth with seven other golfers. Last week at Doral he finished strong with a Sunday 67 in third place alone behind Mickelson and Watney.

Known as a shot-maker on tour and with the Innisbrook Copperhead Course set up very difficult this week Furyk has a good chance to end the streak and return to Kapalua next year. “I'm obviously very happy with playing such a good round and get off to a good start, something I can try it build on.”

The key to his round was putting. He needed only 25 putts and recorded seven birdies on the round. Starting on back nine he almost bogeyed his last two holes of the day. On No. 8 he missed a 15-foot par-saving putt after fluffing a chip shot.

Then on No. 9 he made a 10-footer to save par after bunkering his approach shot.

“Obviously you don't want to go out bogeying the last two. Would have been a disappointing feel after playing so well for the first 16 holes, so I felt good about knocking that putt in and a good start for the week.”

Jim Furyk has an unorthodox golf swing to say the least. Maybe the greatest compliment to him and recognition of his outstanding career performance is that no one really talks about it that much anymore.

“It was early in my career. I kind of shed that after the first couple of years when people realized that I was going to be around for a while. I think they have gotten tired of talking about it, anyway.”

After all the ball doesn’t know what or whom hit it when it is sitting there on the tee or resting on the turf. At the end of the tournament it is not how but how many.

"I think we all have our strengths and our weaknesses, and most players kind of identify those pretty quickly. You look around and see what other guys can do that you can't and things that you feel like you do better than most people.”

Stephen Ames, the 2006 PLAYERS champion shot 66 one stroke back of Furyk in second place. He knows the golf course and he knows the leader ahead of him.

“This golf course, very much (the) emphasis is on keeping it in the fairway, and 10 of 13 fairways is a lot for the day," Ames said. "I'm sure Mr. Furyk was not far behind that himself, Mr. Accurate on the TOUR.”

According to SHOTLink Furyk hit 11 fairways out of 13 one more than Ames. There are five par-3s on the Copperhead Course.

Matthew Goggin, Kenny Perry, and Jonathan Byrd all shot 67 and are tied for third place two strokes back of Furyk.

Goggin, the 34-year old Aussie has won twice on the Nationwide Tour but is winless in 204 starts over seven seasons on the big tour. He played six times early in the year but is well rested after taking the last two weeks off.

Goggin, No. 58 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) did not make the field for the WGC-CA which only takes the top 50 versus the top 64 for the WGC- Accenture Match Play.

Perry, OWGR No. 8 is a fierce competitor and knows how to get more from less when it comes to playing golf.

“This is as good as it gets really. I'm getting everything I can out of the round.”

The 48-year old Kentuckian led the United States to victory again in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in his home state for the first time in nine years. A three time winner in 2008 he has already won once this year at the FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale.

Clemson graduate Byrd finished tied for 13th at last week’s Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular after missing four of five cuts to start the year. The 30-year old native South Carolinian last won the 2007 John Deere Classic.

Ryo Ishakawa the 17-year-old Japanese phenom shot a 2-under 69 and is tied for 15th with 18 other golfers.

After missing the cut at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera CC the young golfer is learning to scramble and make better scores even when the game is not fully present.

“When I hit the trouble shot with driver, I could also make a good second shot from the bad position, Ishakawa said. "That was the key today.”

The humble Ishakawa will also play next week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Asked what it means to him to be invited he responded:

"I'm so honored to be invited to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I am kind of surprised that Mr. Palmer knows about me. So I want to go visit him and to say hi, definitely, and say thank you for the invitation. I have so much respect to Mr. Palmer as a professional golfer.”

Woody Austin was in that large group with Ishikawa and wasn’t happy withhimself.

“Just a terrible finish, I'm pretty pissed off at myself," Austin said. "Under par on this golf course is good, so I like that. But when you have a chance to shoot a low score on this course, you can't throw it away like that. That's just very disappointing.”

That’s what we love about Woody Austin he is just like us when it comes to dealing with the difficulties of playing the game of golf.

David Toms with a 3-under 68 was one of many veterans at the top of the leader board.

“You've got some guys that have been around this track a lot, so that might have something to do with it. It's a tough golf course," Toms said. "You really have to play your way around. It's a lot like a major championship where you need to hit the fairway. And even from the middle of the fairway, there are not a lot of pins you can shoot at. So you really have to golf your ball, and makes for a good, tough track.”

The 12-time winner on the PGA TOUR including the 2001 PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club had three birdies but no bogeys in his opening round.

“Yeah, that's good to go around this golf course [without a bogey]. I think I kept it in play and that's the reason I was able to make a lot of pars. [I] made a couple of decent putts for birdie. Just a good, solid day for me.”

Trevor Immelman the defending Masters champion also shot a 3-under par 68.

“It was nice to play like myself again for a change. You know, I've been making a few changes to try and get a bit more consistent, Immelman said. "I believe what I'm doing is right. And like I said, I've been doing it beautifully on the range on my weeks off, but unfortunately that doesn't matter. I've just been trying to find a way to bring it to the golf course in a tournament.”

The 2009 Transitions Championship is off to a good start with Jim Furyk leading the pack. What will Friday’s Round 2 bring other than the cut for the lower half of the field?

Who will be in position at the end of the day looking forward to making a move on Saturday and winning the tournament come Sunday afternoon?

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]