It’s a familiar position for Furyk at Firestone, where he has done everything right except leave with the trophy.
AKRON, OHIO—Jim Furyk is two rounds away from erasing a couple of bad memories at Firestone.
Even with a bogey on his last hole for the second straight day, Furyk did plenty right Friday in the Bridgestone Invitational for another 4-under 66 that gave him a four-shot going into the weekend of this World Golf Championship.
Furyk ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch late in his round to reach 8-under 132.
It’s a familiar position for Furyk at Firestone, where he has done everything right except leave with the trophy. During a seven-hole playoff against Tiger Woods in 2001, Furyk missed three birdie putts inside 12 feet for the win, and Woods finally closed him out on the 79th hole of the tournament.
More painful was three years ago, when Furyk led wire-to-wire and was in the 18th fairway on Sunday when one bad swing led to a double bogey and he lost by one.
Furyk doesn’t see this as a shot at redemption.
“I would say that I’m disappointed I’ve never won here,” he said. “It’s one of my favourite courses we play. But to have like a chip on my shoulder? No. It’s another year and opportunity, and we’re only halfway. I’m going to try to do the same things this weekend and not really look at the leaderboard that much and go try to shoot under par.”
It might take every bit of that considering the cast behind him.
Bubba Watson (66) and Dustin Johnson (67), whose power is suited for this monster of a course, joined Shane Lowry of Ireland (66) at 4-under 136. Henrik Stenson (69) and Graeme McDowell (71) were among those another shot behind.
Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth got within two shots of the lead when he chipped in for birdie on the third hole (his 12th of the round). He followed with back-to-back bogeys to drop back about the time Furyk was starting to pull away.
The wind was swirling, and Spieth says he didn’t miss a shot during a four-hole stretch when he made two bogeys. The good news? In his sixth round at Firestone, Spieth finally broke par with a 68 that left him six shots behind.
“It goes with the bigger goal of trying to give myself a chance to win this championship,” Spieth said. “It wasn’t going to happen shooting even.”