Lancaster's Furyk still reeling from 2012 Open

ARDMORE, Pa. -- At the very least, Jim Furyk got a chance to visit his old home turf.

That’s the up side after Furyk, a 1988 graduate of Manheim Township High School in Lancaster, Pa., shot 16-over par in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club. He capped off a first-round 77 that he completed on Friday morning with a wretched 79 in the afternoon.

At least Furyk won’t have far to go for a little respite after missing the cut.

“I’m not sure if I’ve thrown up two worse scores,” Furyk said after his second round. “I don’t think I’ve played worse for 36 holes.”

Furyk has had a rough go of it on the course lately, including at courses close to his hometown. He hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2010 even though he routinely ranks high on the season scoring average and prize money lists.

But Furyk has been reeling ever since his blowup on the final three holes at the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club last year. Clinging to a one-shot lead with three holes to play, Furyk bogeyed two of the last three to fall to fourth place.

Furyk might be lying if he said that collapse in last year’s Open didn’t get in his head.

“I felt like I got kicked in the stomach for those to lose by a shot or two when I could have won,” Furyk said. “So, to miss the cut by one or miss the cut by 40, it doesn’t really matter. To lose an event by one or two and it sticks with you for a while.”

Part of that is because Furyk knows that his time for battling for wins in the majors is short. That’s especially the case in the U.S. Open, an event Furyk won in record fashion in 2003.

In the history of the U.S. Open, only three players have won the tournament at age 43 or older. Ted Ray was 43 when he won it in 1920, Ray Floyd was 43 when he won in 1986 and Hale Irwin was 45 when he won for the third time in 1990.

Figuring that the earliest a U.S. Open could come back to Merion -- if it ever comes back at all -- is in 2021, the time for a top performance in his backyard just slipped past.

“You always want to do well,” Furyk said. “I never really played well at the tournaments [near Lancaster] like at Aronimink or when they had events at Waynesboro. I’ve had four events in the Philly area and I never really played well in any of those.

“And then to come back here is a bummer. Obviously, late in my career at 43, there’s not going to be another tournament here at Merion.”

In the meantime, Furyk is hoping to get his game back on track. He’s struggled with finding the right clubs, saying he has switched his driver from week to week. He also has just one top-three finish in 2013 at the Texas Open in April, a tournament in which he had a share of the lead heading into the final round.

If Furyk is still reeling from his blowup in last year’s U.S. Open, it’s a notion not lost on him.

“[This ranks] definitely toward the bottom,” Furyk said.

Notable misses
Furyk is hardly the lone major champion nor the most notable player to miss the cut this weekend at Merion.

Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champ, withdrew from the tournament with a hip injury. It’s also been reported that Oosthuizen’s wife is expecting a baby any day.

José María Olazábal, the two-time Masters champ, shot an 81 in the second round on Friday to finish 36 holes at 16-over par. Angel Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open and 2009 Masters champion, also shot an 81 on Friday to put him 15-over.

Darren Clarke, the 2011 British Open champ, rebounded from a first-round 80 to shoot 75 in the second round. But at 15-over, Clarke is finished.

For those who thought the cozy confines of Merion would play soft because of the rain during the days leading up to the tournament, there was a lot of broken golfers left floundering in the rough (see story).

“I thought the pin placement was very severe,” Furyk said. “I thought there was some good hole locations that would have been unplayable had the course been dry and firm. It really depends on how the USGA sets it up. I think 5-under could win it or 5-over could win it. It all depends on the set up.”

On Friday, the old course had its teeth in.