There are few more distinctive players than Jim Furyk. His looping, chopping swing makes him instantly recognisable to all golf fans and a popular man to follow. Watching a player with a strange action prosper in such a technical sport as golf is fascinating and it facilitates the debate of whether Furyk succeeds because of his swing or in spite of it.
It is hard to suggest that Furyk could have done much better with a textbook swing. Over the past decade he has ranked in the top 10 for more than 350 weeks and has claimed nine top-five finishes in majors to go with his triumph in the 2003 US Open.
Last year Furyk did not claim a top-10 finish in a major for the first time since 2005, but 2010 was still a golden year. He won three tournaments, including the Tour Championship that sealed FedEx Cup glory and was named Tour player of the year.
2011 has been more of a struggle. He has claimed just one top-10 finish in six stroke play events and lost in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Furyk has slipped to number 12 in the rankings and will be the first to admit that he is something of an outsider for Augusta and the US Masters odds reflect this.
However, the 40-year-old Pennsylvanian knows his way around Augusta as well as anyone. 14 appearances have brought four top-10 finishes, seven in the top 30 and a joint 33rd. He has missed just two cuts.
It will be a shock if Furyk suddenly discovers the form of last year to claim the green jacket, but it would be more of a shock if he was not there or thereabouts in the final round shake-up.
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