Jim Furyk wins Chevron World Challenge

Jim Furyk emerged from the pack to win the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club by a single shot from Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell. It was the American’s first victory for over two years.

Jim Furyk
Fergus Bisset
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Jim Furyk emerged from the pack to win the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club by a single shot from Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell. It was the American's first victory for over two years.

Furyk began the final round two shots behind McDowell who had replaced tournament host Tiger Woods in the field at short notice. But Furyk took the lead with a birdie at the 10th and never relinquished his position at the top of the leaderboard.

The tournament was effectively won by two key putts on the last two holes. On the 17th, Furyk's tee-shot found sand and he could only blast out some 35 feet from the cup. But, he holed the par putt to maintain his advantage. Then, on the last, he fired his approach in to five feet and converted the birdie chance.

That closing three proved vital as McDowell also finished with a birdie to narrow the gap at the top to just one. The Northern Irishman ended the week in second place, picked up $800,000 and climbed to 38th on the Official World Golf Ranking - virtually guaranteeing a start in the 2010 Masters.

Lee Westwood had a chance to tie Furyk with a birdie at the last but his effort from off the green narrowly missed. He then missed the par putt and fell back into a tie for third with Padraig Harrington.

With the victory, his first since the Canadian Open of 2007, Furyk climbed to sixth on the Official World Golf Ranking. "That's your goal every year to go out and win," he said. "I haven't been able to do it. Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone."

Chevron World Challenge Sherwood Country Club, California Dec 3-6, purse $5,750,000, par 72

1    Jim Furyk (USA)        70    71    67    67    275    $1,350,000 2    Graeme McDowell (NIR) 71    69    66    70    276    $800,000 T3    Padraig Harrington (Ire) 69    68    70    70    277    $450,000 T3    Lee Westwood (Eng)    71    67    69    70    277    $450,000 T5    Stewart Cink (USA)    70    73    68    68    279    $243,750 T5    Zach Johnson (USA)    68    70    74    67    279    $243,750 T5    Sean O'Hair (USA)    71    67    71    70    279    $243,750 T5    Ian Poulter (Eng)        68    69    71    71    279    $243,750 9    Yong-eun Yang (Kor)    70    65    71    74    280    $195,000 10    Steve Stricker (USA)    71    74    71    65    281    $190,000

Note: Player scores in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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