It's Furyk (Steelers) vs. Mayfair (Cardinals)

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Jan. 30, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM Staff

Editor's note: Who will win Sunday's Super Bowl? Former U.S. Open winner Jim Furyk, a native of West Chester, Pa., makes his claim for the Steelers, while five-time TOUR winner Billy Mayfair, born in Phoenix, states the case for the Cardinals.

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Jim Furyk: Why the Steelers will win		Billy Mayfair: Why the Cardinals will win
I've been to nine Steelers games this season, and I'm definitely excited to be going to the Super Bowl this weekend in Tampa -- just a few hours from my home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. I'm always more nervous when I'm watching the Steelers play than when I'm playing golf, because in golf I can hit shots and have control over the outcome. I was at the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh against the Baltimore Ravens, and any time there's a chance your season can end, it definitely steps up play on the field, and there's more buzz in the crowd. It also makes it much more nerve-wracking. But playing at home and beating your bitter rivals to go to the Super Bowl also makes it that much sweeter. If I had a choice, however, I would've rather seen the Steelers play the Eagles instead of the Cardinals in the Super Bowl because I've lived in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and I still have a lot of friends in Philly. If there's one thing that stands out about the game, it's that I'm surprised a 9-7 team -- the Cardinals -- is in the Super Bowl. But they're really hot right now, and I think the two teams playing the best at the end of the year are playing in this game. Living on the East Coast, I admit I don't pay much attention to teams out West, but I'm a huge fan of Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who played his college ball at Pitt. A lot of Steelers fans are cheering for him. At the end of the day, though, they say defense wins championships, and the Steelers had the best defense in the league this season. They also played an extremely difficult schedule, the toughest in the league, and managed to get through it 12-4 and win a lot of close games. I'm just glad I'll be there to root for them and hopefully see them win another Super Bowl.		The Cardinals have been the underdogs all year, and they have been the underdogs through the playoffs. Watching as much sports as I do, I have never seen things fall into place the way they have for the Cardinals this year. I mean, to have home field advantage the first game and then to beat Carolina and have the Giants lose so we didn't have to go back and play them in the snow ... It just seems like all the breaks are falling their way. I don't think anyone has given them a chance, but here they are in the Super Bowl. It will be an interesting game. Defensively, Pittsburgh is a lot stronger than the Cardinals. They are more of a smash-mouth kind of football team. I think they will want to try to control the ball, so we don't get a chance to show how explosive our offense can be. The Steelers will want to do anything they can to keep the ball away from Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. You know, I hear everyone say that defense wins championships, but Kurt Warner has won a Super Bowl before with offense, and I think he can do it again. Everyone in the Valley has waited a long time for this. It's been a long time since the Diamondbacks won the World Series. The whole community is behind the Cardinals. You see people in Cards hats, and you'll start talking about the game. When you have a town like Phoenix - with the Suns, the Diamondbacks, the Coyotes and Arizona State, it's hard to rally for just one team. But I think everyone is ready for the Super Bowl. My son is a big Larry Fitzgerald fan. He's got jerseys, the works. He'll be out at the TPC Scottsdale for the FBR Open on Sunday, but I think they he'll be asking my wife or one of our friends to take him home that afternoon so he'll be in front of a TV for the kickoff at 4:28 p.m. MT. Even if his dad plays good.