Furyk heeds dad's advice, leads wide open Tour Championship
Jim Furyk headed to the first tee Saturday in the Tour Championship and heard his father and coach, Mike Furyk, give him a simple instruction to "just play golf."
It's a reminder he has uttered over the years not to get too caught up in mechanics or strive for the perfect swing, but to hit the ball, find it and get it in the hole as quickly as possible.
That might not be bad advice for Sunday, either.
Just play golf. Don't think about the $10 million at stake.
Furyk (8 under) twice walked off a green happy to make bogey, made consecutive birdies late in his round that put him atop the leaderboard at East Lake in Atlanta and wound up with an even-par 70 for a 1-shot lead over Retief Goosen and Luke Donald.
That set the stage for a FedEx Cup finale that has never had so many possibilities.
Furyk, Goosen and Donald all can win the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus by winning the Tour Championship, which comes with a $1.35 million prize of its own. So can Geoff Ogilvy, only 3 shots behind. Paul Casey and Charley Hoffman, both within 5 shots of the lead, can win golf's biggest payoff without even winning the tournament.
"The first part of the scenario is I have to win, and the rest of it I can't control," Furyk said. "So the idea, really ... it makes it very simple. I have to win tomorrow, and the idea is just to go out and do the best I can to do that."
"In the past, we had an idea who was going to win, or who had already won," Goosen said, referring to Tiger Woods in 2007 and 2009, and Vijay Singh in 2008 when the points system was such that the Fijian had already clinched the cup when he showed up at East Lake.
It starts with playing well on Sunday, when the tee times will be early because rain is in the forecast that could dramatically change the fast, firm conditions of East Lake.
And as Donald showed in the third round, it all can change so quickly.
The Englishman was never out of the lead until he dumped his third shot into the bunker on the par-5 15th and eventually walked off with a shocking double bogey.
"It was frustrating to give away a couple there," Donald said. "But I hit a lot of good shots today. I'm in great position - still just 1 back, and this is the last Sunday of the regular tour, and I've got a chance to win it all. So that's nice to know."
SAS Championship: Russ Cochran shot a 5-under 67 in the SAS Championship at Cary, N.C., to increase his lead to 4 strokes, the largest 36-hole margin in the history of the Champions Tour event.
Vivendi Cup: John Parry of England shot a 2-under 70 to take a 1-stroke lead after the third round of the European Tour's Vivendi Cup at Chambourcy, France.