SANDWICH, England, July 15 (Reuters) - A change is as good as a rest, so the old adage goes, and for American Jim Furyk a trip across the Atlantic for the British Open may turn out to be the perfect antidote to a wretched season.
Furyk won the 2010 U.S. PGA Tour player-of-the-year award after scooping the FedExCup title and the $10 million bonus available to the player who wins the four-tournament, end-of-season series.
However, this year has been a nightmare for the likeable 41-year-old. His best finish is a tie for ninth at the Tournament of Champions and at the Bay Hill Invitational and he has missed the cut in five of his last six outings.
“One of our writers back home asked me before I left if I was looking forward to the British Open and I kind of chuckled,” Furyk told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
“But what he meant was, ‘Are you looking forward to a change of pace?’. Missing cuts and not playing well, maybe getting new scenery and a different style of golf course was what I needed.
“I’ve always been comfortable playing in the wind and hitting the ball low and flat so I think he had a good point,” smiled the 2003 U.S. Open champion after firing a two-under 68 for a tally of 142, two over par.
Although competing at the Royal St George’s links has represented a fresh challenge, Furyk said he would not want to do it every week.
“I feel my game’s getting better as the week goes on and I love playing here,” he said. “We don’t get a chance to play on courses like this at home and it takes two days just to get used to it.
“I couldn’t play on links every week but we could do with playing more of it—three or four weeks a year would be nice.”
Furyk, who has four times finished in the top five at the British Open without managing a victory, said his self-belief had plummeted this season.
GOOD SHOTS
“It doesn’t take too much to get back on a roll,” he explained. “That’s what I’m trying to do now, find a positive streak, move in the right direction and get some confidence because I haven’t had a lot of it in the last couple of months.
“It was nice to hit some really good shots down the stretch today. I’m starting to play better and it helps put me in a more positive frame of mind than I have been in.”
Furyk said he had been battling against a wayward driver and a cold putter this year.
“I don’t feel like I’ve played terribly but I am hitting too many wild drives,” he said.
“My fairways-hit statistics are still pretty good and it looks like I’m driving pretty straight but my misses are too far off and it’s been getting me into too much trouble.
“I also haven’t been converting enough putts so the combination of the two has stopped me from playing real well,” added Furyk.
“I drove the ball decent yesterday but I had a bad stretch between holes five and 10 and on two or three of those holes it was down to bad drives.
“I felt a bit better today and actually I was real happy with the way I putted. I had a lot of confidence on the greens and made a lot of good putts early and in the middle of the round that kept me going.”
Furyk denied the suggestion he had experienced a negative reaction to his end-of-season triumph.
“I’ve been asked a lot if I’ve had a hangover from the FedEx and if I’m putting too much pressure on myself but I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself and I always expect to perform,” said the veteran of seven U.S. Ryder Cups.
“There are peaks and valleys. When I’m playing well I know not to get too excited because it can all end very quickly.
“When I’m playing badly and it looks like the end of the world, I also know not to get too down.”
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