Furyk Takes over 1st in Senior Open

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OMAHA -- Jim Furyk shot a 6-under-par 64 at Omaha Country Club on Friday and grabbed a two-stroke lead in the U.S. Senior Open. 

Basically, Furyk did it by being himself. One of the straightest drivers on the PGA Champions Tour, Furyk was tied for No. 1 in fairways hit during the second round, with 12 out of 13. He's also one of the best iron players on the 50-and-over circuit, and he was No. 1 in that category, as well, with 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

The result was a nearly flawless round of golf, six birdiles and no bogeys. 

He has  36-hole total of 136 (4 under). Only two other players are under par so far. Stephen Ames,  co-leader along with Billy Andrade after the first-round, could do no better than 73 on Friday, but that was good enough to keep him from slilpping any further back than second place at 138. Miguel Angel Jimenez is the only other player in red numbers. He's in third at 139 after a 71.

The scoring was surprisingly good on Thursday, as Ames and Andrade posted a pair of 65's, and Wes Short put together a bogey-free 66. (Andrade was also bogey-free.) But the course fought back on Friday. No one has been under par for both rounds. 

Two players, Shane Bertsch and Tom Byrum, have been even par both Thursday and Friday, however, with consecutive 70's, and they are part of a massive, 10-way tie for fourth place at 140. 

Andrade is also a part of that group, after a second-round 75. So are a pair of 60-somethings -- Fred Couples, who can still bomb his tee shots at age 61, and Jay Haas, the oldest player in the field at 67. They both shot 71's.

Tom Lehman, the 62-year-old former winner of the Minnesota State Amateur (1981) and State Open (1989, '90), is another two back at 142, after a second-round 72.

The other player with Minnesota connections in the starting field, Cameron Beckman, shot 75 for the second day in a row and missed the cut, which fell at a U.S. Open-like high number -- 147.

Furyk won 17 times on the PGA Tour, including the 2003 U.S. Open. He turned 50 in May of 2020, at which time all of golf was in quarantine. He won his first two starts on the senior tour, the Ally Challenge in August and the PURE insurance Championship seven weeks later in September. 

In one of the sessions of pre-tournament speculation, one of the Golf Channel analysts said that the set-up at Omaha Country Club "screamed Jim Furyk," and he was right. 

On Friday, Furyk had one of his few missed greens at the 230-yard, par-3 third hole, but he made a 30-foot putt for par, and that seemed to start his engine. He birdied the next hole, the 419-yard, par-4 fourth and was on his way. The No. 8 player on the Champions Tour money list with nearly $1.5 million this season added birdies at the par-5 sixth (531 yards) and the par-3 seventh (197) on his way to a front-nine 32.  

It was more of the same on the back nine, another 32, thanks to birdies at the par-3 11th (161 yards), and two par 4's, the 459-yard 12th and the 429-yard 18th. 


PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

U.S. Senior Open 

At Omaha Country Club

Par 70

Second-round results 

1, Jim Furyk                                     72-64--136

2. Stephen Ames                              65-73--138
            
3. Miguel Angel Jimenez                  68-71--139

T4. Billy Andrade                              65-75--140

T4. Fred Couples                             69-71--140

T4. Jay Haas                                    69-71--140

T4. Tom Byrum                                 70-70--140

T4. Ted Tryba                                    69-71--140

T4. Shane Bertsch                            70-70--140

T4. Thongchai Jaidee                        69-71--140

T4. Greg Kraft                                   75-65--140

T4. Kevin Sutherland                        72-68--140

T26. Tom Lehman                            70-72--142 

Missed cut -- 147

Cameron Beckman                          75-75--1 50