Masters Interview - Jim Furyk

THE MODERATOR:   It's a pleasure to welcome Jim Furyk.  Jim joins us for his 18th Masters and Jim's top finish at the Masters was fourth in 2003 and 1998.  He had a strong 2013 highlighted by seven Top‑10s and runner‑up position in the PGA Championship.  The second round of the PGA Championship proved to be memorable as he carded a 59.

            Can you comment on your preparations for this year's Masters?

            JIM FURYK:  Thank you.  I think they have gone pretty well.  I was interviewed at Valero and was asked numerous times how I prepare differently for Augusta than I do for a PGA TOUR event and I kind of skirted the issue for a while and talked about that and asked about how I was going to prepare for this week, and actually I played my member guest at home last week.  (Laughter) that threw everyone for a surprise but I had a friend from New York and we played Thursday through Saturday and drove up yesterday, had a good time.

            Q.  With over 20 first‑time players this year.  If you could give them one piece of advice from your experience here, what would it be?

            JIM FURYK:  Well, is that usual?  Is that high?

            Q.  It's a little high.

            JIM FURYK:  Little high.  It's kind of the ‑‑ if I told all 20, 19 wouldn't heed the information, but I would say to pace yourself.  I think Monday, with all this rain will help them a little bit in pacing themselves and not playing too many practice rounds and maybe getting a day where they kind of get to take a breather.  I hit too many balls.  I spend too much time on the range, the chipping green, putting green, played 18.  Just so excited to be here and wanted to learn about the golf course, but by the time Thursday comes around, you're already somewhat worn out.

            By Sunday, you're running on fumes.  So that's kind of the same thing we tell the young guys at The Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, and in a big tournament like this where everyone is excited, to kind of pace yourself.

            Then the second part would be to grab a veteran, a wily veteran, someone that's won this golf tournament, someone that's played it a lot; talk to them about where the hole locations are going to be, how you like to attack certain pins, figure out where the ball feeds from.  There's little tidbits you can pick up along the way that will really help.

            Q.  You mentioned the 18th Masters; is this golf course getting harder for you or easier for you?

            JIM FURYK:  Well, it's changed significantly since my first Masters in '96.  The golf course is much more penal, much more difficult.  It's longer.  It's tighter.  There's rough in spots.

            I think from learning how to play the golf course, I think it gets easier.  You have an idea of how far uphill, downhill shots play.  You've got some experience to draw from.  But the golf course is much more difficult now, so it's ‑‑ in '96, I thought it was probably the most fun golf course I ever played.  It's still fun but it's now so hard, sometimes you forget to have fun while you're out there.

            Q.  Where was the member guest and how did you guys do?

            JIM FURYK:  Club I play at home is Pablo Creek, and we won (laughter).

            Q.  Did your partner help much?

            JIM FURYK:  A little bit here and there.  I played pretty well.  We had a little bit of an intimidation factor I think (laughter).  Saw a lot of short ones in the shootout were missed.

            Q.  Did you shed a tear when the Eisenhower Tree was gone, and can you just talk about what maybe your most memorable moment was with that tree?

            JIM FURYK:  My memorable moments are going to be a bad memory.  I hit that darned thing a lot.

            When I first started playing here in '96, that tree was much shorter and much closer to the tee.  So it hit that tree; it was a really bad shot for one of the TOUR professionals.

            Once that tee moved farther back and that tree grew, it's difficult.  I have a very hard time hitting it over that tree with the length that I hit it.  I need to kind of work it around it or up the right side of the fairway.  I've tried to hit it high and hard over that thing and caught it.  I've tried to work around it and tugged it a little bit and caught it.

            The history of it, the history of the tree will be missed and there's a lot of lore there, but my game definitely won't miss it that much, put it that way.

            So that hole is very much a ‑‑ the farther you hit it, the more you're rewarded, and if a guy is already 30 yards longer than me off the tee, he probably will be 40 or 50 on that hole because you fly it up, you get more roll, and for the shorter hitters are the fairway is much more narrow and the hole plays exponentially longer for the short hitter on that hole.  So from my perspective, I'm anxious to actually get out there and see it and see what it looks like.  I'm kind of drawing the ball right now but I might hit a little butter cut off that hole just for fun.

            Q.  Back issues have been a topic on TOUR for obvious reasons.  What is your experience of that?  Some doctors say the repetition of the swing makes it inevitable.

            JIM FURYK:  It's not a violent sport.  We are not playing in the NFL or NBA with the contact but it's an awkward movement and very lop sided and one‑sided.  You'll see at the finish, when a guy pulls his shirt off, it's a lot easier to get more developed on one side of your body than other, in that that lopsidedness can cause a lot of injury, as well.  You will see a lot of the training we are doing in the trailer is usually to get the body more symmetrical which will take a little pressure off the joints and backs and hopefully reduce the risk for injury.

            But it is an awkward motion.  Guys are good athletes now and they are bigger and stronger and swinging a lot faster, and over the course of time, it takes its toll.  I had a wrist kind of wear out on me just from wear and tear in 2004 and had surgery and it's the only Masters I missed in '96.  Just that repetition takes its toll.

            Backs are difficult.  I've been very fortunate to be pretty healthy throughout my career that way, but for the friends that I have that deal with that, it's tricky business and you're never really quite sure when the next spasm or when the next episode jumps up.

            Q.  You enlisted a little help from a sports psychologist last year.  Wondering how, if at all, that plays into ‑‑ psychologically approaching this Masters from all the previous ones before you did that, if there's a different mind‑set or approach or anything.

            JIM FURYK:  I think most of the stuff I've talked to Bob about, it really has not been very tournament specific.  It really has not been, I think when I first probably started speaking to Bob, I felt a little bit worn out last year.  I felt a little bit, I think my mind wasn't in a great spot from a golf perspective, some of you all heard this, where I felt burned out last May.

            So some of it was not even talking about golf; it was more about life and how ‑‑ what I wanted to do, I found myself that I was pretty happy‑go‑lucky person for about 20 hours of the day and the four that I was miserable was usually on the golf course, and I didn't want to be that way anymore.

            Started playing this game as a kid because I enjoyed it and I kind of wanted to get back to that.  I think I needed to talk about some of those issues with someone other than, say, my wife or my father or my caddie or someone that I was close to.  Because it's sometimes harder to listen.  The advice is just as good, but I think it's a lot harder to listen.

            So I had a lot of friends that use Bob and went to him and really liked what he had to talk about.  From there we branched out, midsummer, late summer, I was really unhappy about my putting and we started talking about that.  I think he helped get me in a good frame of mind.  I've used some of those lessons throughout my game but we never really sat down and talked about attacking golf courses or that as of yet.

            I went through 19 and a half years on the PGA TOUR without talking to a sports psychologist, so I'm trying to figure it out a little bit, as well, and how exactly I want to use them, if that makes sense.

            Q.  On a happier note, when you think back to '96 ‑‑

            JIM FURYK:  A happy note ‑‑ I'm actually enjoying golf now.  (Laughter).

            Q.  When you think back to '96, what impressed you the most when you first got here?  What sticks in your mind about your first visit here?

            JIM FURYK:  I think how the golf course was manicured was the first thing.  I am not joking.  I was walking down the 10th fairway my first year here and there was a gentleman on his hands and knees trimming the grass along edge of the bunkers with a pair of kitchen shears.  I'm not making that up.  It just blew my mind.

            But the condition of the golf course, I think everyone was very friendly, and then everyone says the same thing:  I could not imagine how hilly and undulating the golf course was because the TV just ‑‑ the HD I guess has helped out a bit but it just doesn't do it justice for how difficult your lie is, like on 13 fairway, downhill, left‑to‑right lie on No. 9.  Used to seem like an easy 9‑iron shot on television and you get there and you go, it is pretty skinny and this lie is tough.

            I feel like I watched it my whole life, and I really didn't, because I started watching the tournament probably at like 15, 16 years old when I started watching a lot of golf.  Got here for the first time when I was 26, so I had watched it for ten years intently, felt like I knew a lot of shots on the golf course and realized I didn't know anything about it when I got here.

            Q.  How does today affect the newbies?

            JIM FURYK:  It will make some is of the younger players anxious.  But most of those, when you talk to the Jordan Spieths and some of your really good, young players, they have already been up here and seen the golf course.  It's going to play a little awkward tomorrow and it's going to be really wet and really damp and really long, so it's ‑‑ I think the weather the rest of the week is supposed to be nice.

            So I see it firming up and getting a little faster every day and they get it where they want it by the weekend.  So I think really just probably making them anxious but in the long run it could be a good thing to have half a day off.

            I was here, I arrived at about 7:45 and was probably on the range before 8:15 and the place was packed which you don't usually see on Monday morning.  I think everyone read the weather report and tried to get some in today.

            Q.  What kind of impact does it have when you play a tournament, who you're paired with?

            JIM FURYK:  Usually don't hear much positive in that.  That's one of those things, you only hear when it's bad news, guys don't want to play with someone that's volatile or slow or holds them up.  But I think can affect both ways and it's good to get paired with ‑‑ everyone always asks me, who do you really like to play with.  I don't really ever think about it much.  Like a Steve Stricker would be a great pairing for me, a guy that I really enjoy being around and he's a gentleman and he's a good player.  But he has a good personality when he plays.  He's going to be the same person whether he's shooting 65 or 80, and I get along with him well.  He's a good friend.  Those are the type of people I like to play with.

            But you know, slow is probably ‑‑ when you always feel like you're rushed, or you feel like you're close to out of position all the time or getting out of position, those players are quite difficult.  But yeah, it doesn't happen that often.

            Q.  I don't know if you're tight with Kevin Stadler or maybe Craig, but do you have a feel for what they will be experiencing this week?

            JIM FURYK:  I think I understand the close relationship between father and son.  My dad is my teacher, and he's been here for every Masters that I've played in.  We've had an opportunity to play the golf course together, so I think that I understand the special bond, at least from the son side, that way.

            But playing in the Masters together, that's nuts.  Not many people are ever going to get that opportunity.  I know Jay and Billy Haas have had similar things.  It's pretty cool.  I know both of them.  I probably know Craig a little bit better.  He's someone that I enjoyed being around when I was younger in my career and he was just usually so sarcastic and funny, which is what I enjoy.  I don't know Kevin quite as well, but I know he's a good player and know he's got a lot of game.  Pretty cool experience for a father and son.

            Q.  How many years do you think it takes from the time you're a rookie coming here until you start to learn the course where you really have a shot at winning?

            JIM FURYK:  I think it's going to be different for everyone in how comfortable they are on the golf course.  I think if you catch a guy that this golf course is in their wheelhouse, I think Zach Johnson won in his third attempt ‑‑ I remember him doing an interview where he was totally lost his first year and then he started to feel stronger his second and ended up winning his third.  Yet, I wouldn't think other than he likes to hit the ball right‑to‑left, I wouldn't really think of this down in his wheelhouse but he's got a great short game, one of the best putters in the game, which is really a key on this golf course.  He's comfortable going right‑to‑left.  I think that helps.  But he's not like that prototypical bomber.  You catch a guy like Jordan Spieth where he's got a solid game, he's really young, he's real competitive; I see this golf course suiting his style of game.  Not that he can't play anywhere, but he's got plenty of power, turning the ball over, the short game, the competitive fire.  I could see him getting very comfortable quickly.

            I was kind of a low, left‑to‑right, short hitter, and so it took me a few years to really kind of feel, you know what, well, wait a second, when I am playing well, I'll have an opportunity.  I had a good shot in '98 when I was close to the lead.  I think I was on the 18th tee one back.  That was only my third year here at the tournament.

            I think you get a couple years under your belt, and you feel pretty good about it.  But I also feel like as good as our young talent is now, and as competitive and as many tournaments they win, I wouldn't be surprised if someone comes here and wins for the first time.

            THE MODERATOR:   Thank you very much for your time and best of luck this week.