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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, March 22, 2010

Furyk finally a winner


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Jim Furyk, right, gets a hug from K.J. Choi, whom he beat by a shot at the Transitions Championship.

CHRIS O'MEARA | Associated Press

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PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Jim Furyk finally won after 32 months and 58 tournaments, and it became a footnote yesterday.

When he finally reached the 18th green after a wild detour through the trees at Innisbrook, two television networks broadcast the first interview with Tiger Woods since revelations he had been cheating on his wife.

Furyk wasn't aware of this until after he won the Transitions Championship. One of Woods' closest friends on the PGA Tour, he walked into the interview room holding a three-page transcript of Woods' interviews with ESPN and the Golf Channel.
"You know what? Tomorrow, the paper is going to read that I won the golf tournament, and I don't really care if it's a three-page spread or a little blurb in the corner of the paper because the article is about him.
"I won the damn thing, and it really doesn't matter to me."
All Furyk cared about was winning for the first time since the 2007 Canadian Open, his longest stretch without a victory since he first joined the PGA Tour.
Furyk closed with a 2-under 69 for a one-shot victory over K.J. Choi, and he made it way too hard on himself.
He missed the last three greens in regulation, making a remarkable par save from a bunker washed out by earlier rains, then hitting what he called a half-shank from the trees, a shot that nearly took out NBC Sports reporter Roger Maltbie.
"It all worked out in the end," said Furyk, who finished at 13-under 271 and won for the 14th time in his career.