ATLANTA ?Jim Furyk looks at his year in golf and mostly sees opportunity lost.
He was born that way, Furyk admits, spotting the clouds and missing the beauty within the struggle. It takes others to tell him of his well-struck shots, that climbing onto leaderboards at Innisbrook, Olympic Club and Firestone means he has done a lot right in 2012, even in defeat.
밒 was always a kid that my dad needed to calm me down,?Furyk said Friday after a round of 64 gave him a one-shot lead in the Tour Championship. 밐e needed to tell me to have fun a little bit more. I think that my personality is that I뭢 75 percent mad [that] I haven뭪 closed the door, and I have to be reminded whether it뭩 my teacher or my caddie or my wife or whoever that 멮ou뭨e playing well, be patient, let it happen.뮅
So here is the 42-year-old Furyk once again, jousting in another big tournament, out-gunned by the game뭩 long hitters, closer to the Champions Tour than his rookie year, trying to cap a season that has been less than whole.
In March, he lost in a playoff in Tampa. In June, a snap hook on the 70th hole might have cost him a second U.S. Open. In August, he made a mess of the finishing hole at Akron, carding a double bogey that some viewed as the continuation of a trend. Maybe Furyk couldn뭪 close anymore.
When Davis Love III made Furyk one of four captain뭩 pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team earlier this month, it was widely viewed as a controversial choice.
Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan were younger. Nick Watney had just won The Barclays. Bo Van Pelt was living on leaderboards.
Furyk says he doesn뭪 read golf opinion ?good or bad ?but he has been asked if he feels he must justify Love뭩 selection, even with 16 PGA Tour wins and seven Ryder Cup appearances behind him.
밨eally, the opinions that matter to me are those of my captain and those of my teammates,?Furyk said. 밚ook at the way I play golf, the way I swing the golf club and grip the putter. Look at the way I go about my business. I don뭪 hit it very far. I뭢 short. If I really cared what the critics thought the last 19 years, I really wouldn뭪 be here, if that makes sense.?/P>
Tiger Woods sees Furyk뭩 virtues, not the shortcomings of the summer.
밒f you think about it, he뭩 basically two swings away from being probably in the top five in [Ryder Cup] points,?Woods said. 밐im being picked is not that controversial to us as players. It might be to some who are outside the team.?/P>
Even Bubba Watson, whose good pals Fowler and Mahan were left off the team, recognizes Furyk뭩 value.
밐e brings leadership, focus, drive, determination,?Watson said. 밐e뭩 been around the block. He뭩 won. He뭩 lost. He뭩 cried at a few. That뭩 the quarterback of the team.?/P>
On Friday, the quarterback was paired with Bubba, out-playing the big lefthander with remarkable precision.
Furyk opened his round with seven straight 3s (he made 10 on the day).
Furyk still has so much to play for, even with two difficult rounds to go, even if he earned his Ryder Cup spot on faith.
Even if the clouds sometimes get in the way.