Jim Furyk: PGA Tour Star and U.S. Ryder Cup Member

In golf parlance, Jim Furyk is best known as a grinder. He is a golfer who grinds the most out of each round of golf by agonizing over each and every shot. If James Brown is the hardest working man in show business, then Jim Furyk may be the hardest working man on the PGA Tour. Sure, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods are also notorious for their tremendous work ethics and long practice hours. However, with Jim Furyk, you can see that work ethic in every round of golf that he plays. Furyk studies every putt, steps up to putt the ball, and then backs off to study the putt again. He does this on every hole and it is obvious how intense his concentration is. Jim Furyk refuses to waste a single shot, attempting to grind out the best possible score that he can. This focus has made Jim Furyk one of the best golfers on the PGA Tour and also in the world.

When most golf fans think of Jim Furyk, the first thing that comes to mind is his unorthodox and loopy swing. While the vast majority of PGA Tour players have textbook swings, Jim Furyk's golf swing is uniquely his. Despite the fact that his swing appears unconventional, Jim Furyk is able to repeat that swing time after time. In fact, Furyk is one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour. Jim Furyk's father taught him how to play the game and is the only golf instructor that he has ever had. Furyk's father was the head professional at a golf club in Pennsylvania, where Jim grew up. The 6'2" Furyk was also a talented basketball player back in high school. After high school, he concentrated on golf, becoming an All-American golfer at the University of Arizona, before turning professional.

Jim Furyk is a veteran of the PGA Tour and is currently ranked #3 in the world, behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Furyk is currently having one of the best years of his career on tour. He has won two tournaments this year and is second on the PGA Tour Money List for 2006. In addition, Jim Furyk has finished in the Top 10 of eleven different PGA tournaments this year. He is playing great golf and should be a big help to the U.S. Ryder Cup Team. More than likely, Furyk will be teaming up with Tiger Woods in the two-man team portion of the Ryder Cup. This will be Jim Furyk's fifth Ryder Cup appearance in his career. He has also played in the Presidents Cup on four different occasions.

For his career, Jim Furyk has accumulated twelve PGA Tour victories. The biggest win of his career took place in 2003, when he won the U.S. Open Championship at Olympia Fields near Chicago. In 2004, Jim Furyk had wrist surgery and sat out most of the season. After recovering from surgery, Furyk came back strong in 2005 and has been playing well ever since. If he can stay healthy, Jim Furyk has a good chance to win another major tournament in the next few years. His gritty play and consistency makes him a contender in every PGA tournament he enters. PGA Tour players know that if they want to beat Furyk, they are in for a grind.