2003 - FURYK BOUNCES BACK IN STYLE

By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

American Jim Furyk won his first major title in record-equalling fashion in Chicago - as Justin Rose served notice that his first victory in golf's four biggest championships might not be far away.

Furyk, who has previously had 12 top-10 finishes in majors without ever being higher than fourth, won the United States Open at Olympia Fields by three strokes from Australian Stephen Leaney, his eight-under-par total of 272 matching the mark set by Jack Nicklaus in 1980 and equalled since then by Lee Janzen and Tiger Woods.

Rose, meanwhile, climbed all the way from joint 24th at the start of the day into a tie for fifth with a closing 69, most of those above him folding like a pack of cards as the sun-baked course at last turned into the traditional US Open terror track.

At halfway 26 players were under par, but come the end of the championship there were only four, European tour regular Leaney finishing four clear of third-placed duo Kenny Perry and Masters champion Mike Weir.

Possessor of one of the most unorthodox swings in golf - likened by television commentator and former European tour star David Feherty to an octopus trying to escape from a telephone booth - Furyk also set 36-hole and 54-hole records en route to his triumph.

Joint fourth with Rose at the 1998 Open at Birkdale - Rose was a 17-year-old amateur at the time - Furyk has been a money-making machine since then. But this takes his career to a new level.

Not even the intervention of a blonde streaker on the 14th hole could stop him. Having just seen a five-stroke lead with seven to play become three with five it was not a done deal.

But just before the streaker came offering roses - he declined and she was escorted away - he had hit a superb approach to two feet and when he holed the putt he had only to play sensibly and win.

His only mistakes were to bogey the short 17th and then three-putt the last, but he could easily afford those with Leaney having also dropped a shot at the 17th. They both scored 72.

Twenty-two-year-old Rose, given a stern talking to by coach David Leadbetter before the start as he struggled to get motivated for his debut in the event because he was swinging the club poorly, commented: ``I am delighted.

``This is another good learning experience for me and I will take level par in this for the next 20 years every time.

``My game is at a major level now and without saying I feel I am ready to win one I think I am capable of it in the not too distant future.''

Like Rose, defending champion Woods had resumed on one over and when he birdied the two par fives in the first six holes he could not be totally written off.

But then he four-putted for one of the few times in his life - and with it said goodbye to the great closing round he was hoping for.

It came on the 496-yard par-four ninth and took the wind out of his sails. He bogeyed the next and finished with a 72 for three over and joint 20th.

Woods said: ``I was very close. I hit the ball pretty good the last three days and got absolutely nothing out of it. That's very frustrating.

``If I play like I know I can things will take care of themselves. All I needed was a little bit of momentum.''

As for what happened on the ninth he commented: ``I thought I had holed the first putt, but the second and third were terrible. Luckily I hit the fourth right in the middle!''

The world number one was letting go of his one remaining major two years after holding all four and by his own high standards the first two majors had gone badly wrong.

First there was his worst score as a professional in the Masters, where he finished 15th. Then on Saturday his worst score as a professional in the US Open.

But do not expect to hear Woods using the word ``slump'' in the build-up to next month's Open championship at Royal St George's in Kent.

``I have won three tournaments out of seven I have played this year (on the US Tour) and you are trying to tell me I am in a slump?'' he said when questioned after his 75.

His game was not firing on all cylinders, but he had not been helped either by an incident on the first hole of his third round.

Handily placed only three shots off top spot Woods was hitting his second shot to the par five when a spectator whistled.

``Yeah, right on my downswing,'' he said. ``If it was my backswing I would have stopped it, but on the downswing I couldn't. It was a frustrating way to start a round.''

As the club came out of his hands and he turned to stare long and hard into the crowd the ball flew into a bunker 110 yards short of the flag. He saved par, but as it was one of only two par fives on the course it was a chance gone.

Padraig Harrington came in with a 68, but he had started at three over and so it lifted him `only' to joint 10th.

``I could have been better. I missed six or seven more opportunities,'' he said.

``At least I holed a few, but at the end of the day I have not played well enough.''

Darren Clarke turned in 35, but then matched Woods' bogeys at the 10th and 11th and triple-bogeyed the next. He finished with a 75 for six over, the same as Colin Montgomerie (72) and six better than Brian Davis (75).

Collated final-round scores at the US Open, Oympia Fields, Chicago, (USA unless stated, par 70):

(x) denotes amateurs

272 Jim Furyk 67 66 67 72

275 Stephen Leaney (Aus) 67 68 68 72

279 Kenny Perry 72 71 69 67, Mike Weir (Can) 73 67 68 71

280 Justin Rose (Gbr) 70 71 70 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 69 67 73 71, David Toms 72 67 70 71, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 70 69 72, Nick Price (Zim) 71 65 69 75

281 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 69 72 72 68, Jonathan Kaye 70 70 72 69, Cliff Kresge 69 70 72 70, Scott Verplank 76 67 68 70, Billy Mayfair 69 71 67 74

282 Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 69 71 71 71, Tom Byrum 69 69 71 73, Tim Petrovic 69 70 70 73, Jonathan Byrd 69 66 71 76, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 70 66 70 76

283 Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 69 74 68, Tiger Woods 70 66 75 72, Robert Damron 69 68 73 73, Jay Williamson 72 69 69 73, Justin Leonard 66 70 72 75, Mark Calcavecchia 68 72 67 76, Ian Leggatt (Can) 68 70 68 77, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 63 72 78

284 John Maginnes 72 70 72 70, Kevin Sutherland 71 71 72 70, Tom Watson 65 72 75 72, Kirk Triplett 71 68 73 72, Stewart Cink 70 68 72 74, Brett Quigley 65 74 71 74, Dicky Pride 71 69 66 78

285 Brandt Jobe 70 68 76 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 74 71 71, Chris DiMarco 72 71 71 71, Fred Funk 70 73 71 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 68 73 72, Chad Campbell 70 70 69 76, Mark O'Meara 72 68 67 78

286 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 72 73 70, Loren Roberts 69 72 74 71, Colin Montgomerie (Gbr) 69 74 71 72, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 70 70 73 73, Steve Lowery 70 72 70 74, Darren Clarke (Gbr) 70 69 72 75

287 Marco Dawson 72 71 75 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 68 73 71, Woody Austin 74 64 76 73, Dan Forsman 71 67 73 76, Darron Stiles 71 68 72 76

288 Charles Howell 70 73 74 71, John Rollins 73 70 68 77

289 Phil Mickelson 70 70 75 74, Lee Janzen 72 68 72 77

290 Len Mattiace 69 73 77 71, (x) Trip Kuehne 74 67 76 73

291 (x) Ricky Barnes 71 71 79 70, Olin Browne 72 70 74 75

292 Chris Anderson 72 70 78 72, Brian Davis (Gbr) 71 72 74 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 66 76 77

293 JP Hayes 70 73 79 71, Jay Don Blake 66 77 75 75

295 Brian Henninger 76 67 76 76, Fred Couples 70 72 73 80

301 Ryan Dillon 72 68 81 80