Billy Hurley III finished T4 at Congressional
in front of his hometown family and friends.
Furyk Still Recounting Olympic Loss
BETHESDA, MARYLAND | Jim Furyk
has had “hundreds and hundreds of
people” coming up to him in the past
two weeks to tell him how much they
were pulling for him to win the U.S.
Open, only to watch him botch the
opportunity on the final three holes.
“I’ve had my share of close calls and
I have myself to blame that I didn’t get
the job done when I really needed to,”
he said last week at the AT&T National
near Washington, D.C. “For the first
couple of days it stings a little bit more
and it’s tough to deal with personally.
What I’ve always done is gone through
in my mind about the things I think
I could have improved on and what I
could have done better, and why exactly
did I make the poor swing at 16.
“The difficult part is I get reminded
of it at least two-dozen times a day ...
people seeing me in public, at the grocery
store, at a restaurant saying, ‘I was root-
ing for you, I was pulling for you.’ ”
So what exactly did happen on that
snap hook on the 16th hole Sunday at
Olympic that led to a costly bogey and
knocked him out of the lead for good?
Furyk said he was unsure of his line and
was trying to avoid hitting his tee shot
into the right rough. Then, he said, he
made “a quick swing” while trying to
draw the ball, resulting in that ugly drive.
“I was unprepared for the shot at 16
with the setup of the golf course,” he
said. “I was unprepared for the tee to
be 100 yards up. ... I think it was more
mental than physical. I made the swing
because I made a poor decision.
PGA Tour and tournament officials
took the unusual step of closing Saturday’s third round to spectators and
tournament volunteers after a severe
storm, with winds of 70 mph, came
through the area Friday night, wreaking havoc on and off the golf course.
There were widespread power outages
throughout the Washington metropolitan area and roads leading to the
course had to be closed.
At least 40 trees were uprooted,
including ones that fell across the 14th
and 18th fairways, and the course was
strewn with fallen branches and other
debris, making it unsafe for spectators.
Tee times were delayed for six hours
while workers tried to make the course
playable for the remaining field.
“It’s too dangerous out there,” said
Mark Russell, the PGA Tour’s vice-president for rules and competition. “There
Billy Hurley III enjoyed by far the
best week of his rookie season on
the PGA Tour at Congressional and it
came in front of many of his hometown
friends and family.
Hurley, wearing a Naval Academy
golf shirt, ended his week with a round
of 1-over 72 that left him tied for fourth
place at 4-under 280. Hurley got to
within a shot of the lead when he made
a 30-footer for birdie at the ninth hole
to get to 6 under, but he followed that
with a bogey at No. 10 and never got
that close again.
Hurley grew up in nearby Leesburg,
Va., lives in Annapolis, Md., and is a
graduate of the Naval Academy, spending five years in the Navy before resuming his golf career three years ago.
He earned his Tour card this year by
finishing in the top 25 on what is now
the Web.com Tour, but until this week,
his best showing was a tie for 32nd at
the Texas Open. Hurley pushed into
contention this week when he posted
the best score of the third round, a
5-under 66 that left him only two shots
out of the 54-hole lead.
Adam Scott made one of the bigger
moves of the final 18 holes, pushing from
1 under through 54 holes to 6 under after
his first 13 Sunday. He had a run of five
birdies in a six-hole stretch on his front
nine, including four straight when he
made putts of eight feet at the fifth hole,
followed by strokes of 10, six and two feet.
Though the heat index was over 100,
he cooled considerably on the back nine,
making three straight pars before back-
to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th,
where he missed a three-footer for par,
dropped him out of contention. Still, the
Australian was pleased with his final-
day play, especially a 40-foot birdie putt
that got him to 5-under 279 for the week
and solo third place after a Sunday 67.
The heat also was a major factor.
Temperatures were in the high 90s on A
