How much does it cost to carry a 15th club in your bag? $131,250 and 188 FedEx points. That is the final damage for Jim Furyk, after discovering a 15th club in his bag on Saturday of the Barclays. He realized the error near the green of the second hole, and was penalized 4 strokes (2 per hole). He still finished with a 70 for the day, but without the 4-stroke penalty would have finished the tournament in sixth place rather than fifteenth…resulting in a huge pay cut.
Furyk had been practicing on the range with a 60 degree wedge with extra bounce, and thought he may need that with all the run-off areas around the greens at Liberty National. However, he decided to stay with his normal 60 degree wedge. In the process, there was a lack of communication between Furyk and caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan.
“It was a chain of events that added up to a stupid mistake,” Furyk said. “I assumed he knew I was going to play this 60 and he didn’t know which way I was going to go. … It’s one of the simplest rules in golf. It’s so easy. I pride myself on being really prepared – and to do something like that. I think mental errors are much harder to overcome on the golf course than physical errors. The ones that you make because of an absent mind or not paying attention or not doing your homework, those are the ones that hurt the most because you can control that.”
“He (Cowan) was kicking himself,” Furyk said. “I said, ‘Hey, I don’t want to hear it. Let’s just play golf and we’ll figure it out.’ We’ve been through too much together for a long, long time. He’s been on my bag for over 10 years. He does what he does. He shows up on time. He’s a good person and he’s a good caddie. The last thing I want anyone to do is blame it on Mike. The fact that we both made the error is what surprises me. That’s the shocker. I can see one person being a bonehead for 30 minutes, but two people is disappointing.”
Can you imagine screwing something up at your job that would cost you $131,250? Personally, I wish I could be on tour to even be in a situation like that! Jim Furyk is a class act, though. Obviously I’m speculating, but more than likely the blame is on Fluff. Sure, they’re both responsible, but when a player is in contention in a tournament I have to believe they’ve got a lot on their mind. Ultimately, the number of clubs in a bag is “Caddying 101.” Fluff is a seasoned caddy, however, and I’m not coming down on him. Everybody makes mistakes.
Furyk is playing well right now, and is well inside the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings. Hopefully the loss in winnings is all we’ll have to talk about. Can you imagine if he misses a spot in The Tour Championship because of the 188 FedEx points he lost? Fluff may be looking for a new job…
That is “Caddying 101″. Count the clubs. At least you’re not DQ’d, like when you sign an incorrect score card. Furyk is classy for taking part of the blame. Mike should be kicking himself. I’d be kicking myself. Is the penalty to harsh? Nope.
I heard Jim is already interviewing new caddies… http://oneeyedgolfer.blogspot.com/2009/09/furyk-looking-new-caddy.html
Seriously, if for no other reason than the other caddies on tour know whose ‘fault’ it was, Furyk should tell it like it is. In the year 2009, with the money and perks major caddies receive, that is possibly the worst no-no other than no-show…
Thank you for the comment, Danielle. I guess the penalty isn’t too harsh. After I wrote this post, I actually learned that the penalty is 2 strokes per hole with a maximum penalty of 4 strokes. When I thought it was too harsh, I was thinking you could potentially be penalized 36 strokes if you kept the extra club for 18 holes! Lol
Vince, thank you for the comment. I don’t know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I guess it’s “classy” that Furyk isn’t throwing Fluff under the bus. But on the other hand, if someone was solely responsible for losing me $131,250…I would probably forget about showing any class!
[...] will say that I’m contradicting myself because just a couple weeks ago I talked about how Jim Furyk “forfeited” $131,250 for having too many clubs. There’s a difference though, because there was a direct [...]
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