Furyk Charges, but Comes Up Short

The player with the most unorthodox swing on the PGA Tour used golf's least complicated motion to charge up the leader board at the AT&T National.

Jim Furyk relied on his putter yesterday at Congressional and rallied to two shots off the pace, but leader Anthony Kim would not relent. That left Furyk talking about several near-misses on the greens despite carding a 4-under-par 66 in the final round.

"I was trying, but as I said, [I wasted] opportunities . . . 13 through 16, not making a birdie through there," said Furyk, who finished tied for third, three shots behind Kim. "I had some good looks."

Furyk began the final day five shots out of first and tied for 11th place. After four consecutive pars to open the round, the 2003 U.S. Open champion made birdie 3 at the fifth thanks to a splendid approach. His ball landed within four feet of the pin, and Furyk sank the putt.

At the par-4 eighth, Furyk hit his approach to three feet and made the putt to get to 7 under and trim the margin to two. After a par at No. 9, Furyk had taken just 13 putts on his front side.

"Realistically, I knew I had to get to 10 [under], possibly 11," Furyk said about his strategy at the turn. "Ten was probably a real outside chance, but guys kind of ripped up that back side. Scores changed dramatically."

Furyk was an active participant in that group, adding his third birdie of the round at No. 12. There he hit his approach within three feet and tapped in to get to 8 under. Behind him, though, Kim had birdied No. 10, and Furyk needed to recoup three shots.

He narrowly missed getting to 9 under at No. 14, where he was left with a lengthy putt after his approach settled 31 feet from the left rear pin placement. His putt looked on the mark as it began feeding toward the target, but the ball stopped six inches from the hole.

Furyk had another putt stop just short of the cup at No. 15. This time he had hit his approach to 23 feet, and the putt appeared true. Turns out that Furyk needed one more revolution and had to settle for par. Furyk sank a four-foot putt at No. 17 for his fourth birdie of the day, but Kim had birdied the 16th for an all but insurmountable cushion.

"I'm really comfortable here at Congressional. I like the golf course," said Furyk, who took just 28 putts yesterday and finished the tournament fifth in putting. "I was a little disappointed because last week [at the Buick Open] was one of my favorite courses on tour because it suits my game, and I had a pretty disappointing finish [tied for 36th], and I came in here pretty motivated."

He also came to Bethesda with a relatively new putter. Furyk made the switch at the Buick after inconsistent putting contributed to his missing the cut at the Colonial and finishing in a tie for 39th at the Memorial.

Now Furyk will take his new equipment and a fresh outlook to Royal Birkdale, site of this year's British Open. Furyk was fourth at last year's Open after missing the cut in the previous five. He finished tied for fourth in 1998 when the season's third major was last at Birkdale.

"I'm leaving for the British Friday night, so middle of this week, I'll work on a few things," Furyk said. "Maybe tinker with equipment changes, maybe keep the ball down over there. I'm looking forward to it. Birkdale is a heck of a golf course."