Funk having too much fun on PGA TOUR  Special to PGATOUR.com HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- After missing the cut in the Masters last week, Fred Funk was really looking forward to the Verizon Heritage and Harbour Town Golf Links with its gentle sloping fairways and flat greens where you can make fearless runs at birdie. Funk shot a 4-under-par 67 in Thursday's opening round, four shots off the early pace set by Jerry Kelly. Pretty sporty for a guy who's supposed to be playing the Champions Tour but is having too much fun on the PGA TOUR. He travels with his wife and children, who are home-schooled, and is living large with wins on both the TOUR (Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya -- Cancun) and the Champions Tour (Turtle Bay Championship) already this year.  Fred Funk is enjoying life playing on the PGA TOUR. (Greenwood/WireImage)
"Golf is golf and competition is still competition," Funk said. "You have to concentrate on what you're doing. There's just not the anxiety level (in Hilton Head) that Augusta creates." Funk loves Harbour Town and the demands it places on players. "It's a fun event, especially after Augusta," he said. "It's more laid back, at least until you get in contention. Then all of a sudden, it's back on again. It's a great golf course, a position golf course, a lot of fun, a great place to be." Funk made only one bogey Thursday, at the 470-yard eighth. He had birdies at the fifth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th, and was rewarded with a few lucky breaks. "I got a little zeroed in. My short game was good, my attitude's good, everything's good," Funk said. "I think we got a little break with the tee time (7:50 a.m.). It's supposed to blow this afternoon. When it gets blowing out there, swirling in the trees, you can get a little guessing game going on. "There are some places you don't want to be, especially on those par 3s. After you've been around this course a couple of times, you learn. But every now and then you hit a shot and think you're okay and you get blocked by a tree limb. You have to be careful." Funk said he was surprised to learn how much a tree overhangs the front right pin on the 11th hole. He clipped a limb with an 8-iron approach, but the ball dropped down to 3 feet for birdie. "This is a course you have to have control of the golf ball," Funk said. "I played real solid and enjoy myself. This is a course that rewards good play, and I got rewarded. I played real solid today. If I could average 67 every day, I'd be doing pretty good. You could make a living shooting 67." Funk said he still feels competitive on the PGA TOUR, and the five-year exemption he earned for his victory at the 2005 PLAYERS Championship affords him opportunities to play beyond his 50th birthday. "I have the luxury of an exemption that allows me to play here for a while," he said. "Plus, I won this year. My best years have been since I turned 45 or 46.
"I continue to get better and feel like I've got a lot of room for improvement. I want to see how long I can play competitively out here. Most guys in their late 40s are trying to play to get ready for the Champions Tour. I'm trying to see how long I can play out here and stay competitive. "At the same time, when a guy from the Champions Tour comes out and plays well, I think it validates the Champions Tour even more. Loren Roberts, Jay Haas, Tom Watson at Pebble Beach played great. I really think Hale Irwin could still win out here. He's in such great shape, such a good player and such a great competitor. "I don't think age is that big of a factor. Just because you turn 50, I don't think you need or have to go over. It's nice (on the Champions Tour). I really, really enjoy it over there, moreso than I thought I would. But at the same time, I have this burning desire to see how long I can last out here." |
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