JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Constellation Furyk & Friends host Jim Furyk isn’t getting too distracted by his off-course duties this week.
He’ll never be too busy to focus on trying to win his own event.
Furyk birdied three of his last four holes on the front nine of the Timuquana Country Club on Friday and then had a clean card with two birdies on the back to finish with a 5-under 67 and a share of the lead with the last PGA Tour Champions winner, Steve Flesch, and Rob Labritz.
“I didn’t think much about it today,” Furyk said of being the tournament host. “I played well here last year [tying for fourth] and I was happy with the way I scored and played and got the ball in the hole. When I’m off the course I’m thinking about our celebrities finishing, the party for the caddies, a cocktail party downtown for Constellation … I think it’s kind of healthy. It gets my mind off golf. Then when I do step in the ropes, I’m locked in and try to flip the switch.”
Furyk hit only half the 14 fairways and missed five green but got up-and-down four times and needed only 25 putts.
His best escape was when he recovered from a drive at No. 16 that went low and left, between two trees and in a sandy lie. He considered laying up but decided on a wedge shot between a gap in the trees, with the ball landing a foot from the hole.
“I hit some bad drives, got some good breaks,” he said.
Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach punches out from the trees during the first round of the Constellation Furyk & Friends on Friday at the Timuquana Country Club. (Photo: Bob Self/Florida Times-Union)
Flesch won the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach two weeks ago for his second Champions Tour title of the season and his third overall. He got off to a quick start with birdies on two of his first three holes and birdied the last.
He’s also the low returning left-hander in the field: 2021 champion Phil Mickelson isn’t playing because of his suspension from the Tour. Flesch was solo third last year and has played his first four rounds at Timuquana at 15-under.
Flesch missed only three greens on Friday and said the course is playing tougher than last season after a renovation firmed up the greens and dry weather since Ian passed the area last week has made them even more difficult.
“Greens are tough to get the ball close this year,” he said. “Seems like the runoffs are a little more severe. It kind of suits my conservative style of play. I’ve never been a guy who kind of aims at a lot of flags. Drove it well, made some great putts and it added up to a great score.”
Labritz, who was a club pro from Pound Ridge, New York, was the Champions Tour national qualifying tournament medalist and has had a solid season, entering the week 38th on the Schwab Cup points race.
He tied for fourth in the U.S. Senior Open and has seven top-25 finishes.
Labritz said he’s played enough Donald Ross courses in the Northeast to feel comfortable at Timuquana.
“We have a lot of those,” he said of course designed by the World Golf Hall of Fame architect from Scotland. “It’s more middle of the green sort of thing, because all of the greens are crowned but if you’re patient out there and you get yourself in the fairways you can attack some of these pins with wedges.”
The trio at the top shouldn’t feel comfortable in Saturday’s second round.
Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, and Ken Tanigawa are tied at 4-under and a crowd of eight players at 3-under includes two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, last year’s runner-up at Timuquana, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and two-time U.S. Open champion and 1995 Players champion Lee Janzen.
John Daly got into contention with three birdies in a row on the front but had four bogeys among his last 11 holes and finished with a 1-under 71. Paul Stankowski led at 4-under through 12 holes but played his last four holes 4-over, with a double-bogey at the par-4 16th.
Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, eagled the par-5 sixth hole and shot 70. Jacksonville native David Duval, playing at the course when he learned the game, bogeyed two of his first four holes and was steady after that, logging a 1-over 73.
Contact Garry Smits at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter