Tuesday 21 April 2015 17:36, UK
Robert Lee reflects on Jim Furyk's outstanding first victory since 2010 and tips Tommy Fleetwood as one to watch on his WGC-Cadillac Match Play debut.
Once again, we've seen some high-quality golf on Sky Sports over the weekend and Sunday produced some thrilling finishes. Kiradech Aphibarnrat claimed his second European Tour title after a play-off at the Shenzhen International, and Jim Furyk ended almost five years of frustration by edging out Kevin Kisner on the second extra hole at the RBC Heritage.
It shows you what Furyk had to do to finally win again after, by his own admission, he had blown plenty of chances over the last five years. He shot 63 in the final round and yet he still had to birdie the two play-off holes to win.
He didn’t buckle at all in that final round and he must have thought he had won it in regulation, but Kisner made a brilliant birdie at the last and then both birdied 18 again a few minutes later.
Furyk then made a great two at 17 to wrap it up, and he could not have done any more. I’m so pleased for him, and you could see from his celebration that he had got rid of a lot of self-doubt.
It was a magnificent Sunday performance from him to collect PGA Tour title No 17. That's a pretty good number - once you get past the superstars he’s right up there with the best of the rest. Furyk has had a fantastic career, and 17 wins and being ranked world No 5 is not bad for a short hitter in his mid-40s!
It was Jim’s fourth win in 12 play-offs on the PGA Tour, and sometimes it just goes your way. It’s a bit like a penalty shoot-out, there are no guarantees. A one-in-three strike rate is not terrible, and he’s still converted four, but play-offs are difficult. You can’t control what the other players might suddenly do.
Magnificent
It was a magnificent performance, particularly with that final-round 63 coupled with having to wait until Kisner had finished, he had to gather himself and re-focus to go out again. He’s a fantastic guy and it was great to see him win.
His outburst at the end was similar to when he won the FedExCup at Atlanta in 2010, and it was also good to see. He’s very methodical and doesn’t give much away, and then it all bubbled to the top when he holed the winning putt.
I don’t think there’s a comfort zone for him now. He’s been trying so long to win his 17th title, and he had to shoot 63 and then birdie two play-off holes to lay that ghost to rest. If you had told him that was what he needed to do, he probably would have given up hope! It’s a massive weight off his shoulders and it won’t be five years before he wins again.
He’s only won one major, so can he win another? He could, I’m not discounting it, but I wouldn’t have said that until he had ended this winless run. There’s renewed belief in Furyk's mind now.
Over in China, Tommy Fleetwood was very disappointed to finish third, but it’s his best finish of the season. He was desperate to win, and he told us afterwards that nobody remembers who finished second or third.
But, crucially, he did enough to get up to 55th in the world rankings and book his place at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play in a couple of weeks' time. That’s fantastic for Tommy, and I’m pleased for him, He’s a nice lad and I think he is deeply ambitious.
Stalled
He stalled last summer when people were tipping him as a potential Ryder Cup player. He didn’t perform at the bigger tournaments, that really cost him and had a disappointing year.
But he can now build on his performance in China and he needs to aim for more consistency. He’s a streaky player, and you need consistency to make the Ryder Cup team.
He’ll enjoy his Match Play debut and he could be a bit of a dark horse in San Francisco. Anything can happen in the match play format.
Fleetwood finished a shot short of being in a play-off with Li Hao-Tong and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who finished eagle-par and then birdied the first play-off hole to win.
The Thai ace is a big lad, and he's been battling a thyroid problem from a young age. But plainly, he’s fit enough to play golf and boy, he can play. That’s his second win, he's closing in on the world's top 50 and all the big invites that would bring, and I think the PGA Tour is now his long-term target. That’s the dream ticket.
He’s a talented player, and he’s looking forward to celebrating his victory in style when he returns home to Thailand after this week’s Volvo China Open.
Looking ahead to this week, I'll be back in the Sky Sports studio presenting live coverage of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which features an excellent cast including Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson.
Rose had a slow start to the season, but he looked back close to his best at the Masters and enjoyed a great week. He's gone to Augusta and played well on a course he’s obviously comfortable with. You always feel he can go to Augusta and do something.
Having started his season in earnest at the first major of the year, a measure of his form will be how he performs from now on. Justin has some big events coming up, and I hope he can get himself into contention regularly over the summer.
Robert's Sky Bet tips:
I'm going for David Howell in the Volvo China Open at odds of 40/1 with Sky Bet. He was fourth last week and got better as the week went on, and that bodes well for Shanghai.
And at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, I'll pick Rickie Fowler. He has been really disappointing so far this year, and he’s surely due a big performance. He's an 18/1 shot.
