Despite win drought, Furyk knows his time is near

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Contrary to what happened earlier this month at The Barclays, Jim Furyk is quite good at counting.

He knows, for instance, it's been 52 starts and more than two years since he last won on the PGA TOUR at the 2007 Canadian Open. That's the longest winless spell he's endured since it took him 61 events after he became a PGA TOUR member to win his first title, at the Las Vegas International in 1995.

"I've played well this year," Furyk said Sunday after finishing a distant T2 to Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship near Chicago. "I've played solid, but obviously I haven't won a golf tournament. That bothers me more than anyone else, trust me. And I'm reminded of it every time I play well."

Just as he'll be reminded for a while of his too-many-clubs gaffe at The Barclays, when he was penalized four shots in the third round after caddie Mike "Fluff" Cowan discovered they left an extra sand wedge in the bag by mistake.

Furyk is one of the sport's most meticulous players, so for him to get handed a four-shot penalty for violating one of golf's most basic rules is sort of like hearing Woods missed his tee time because he was busy at the lunch buffet.

You never think it would happen. But it did.

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Jim Furyk has made the cut in 13 consecutive events. Only Kenny Perry (27) and Graeme McDowell (15) have more (see below)

While that mistake eventually cost Furyk $135,000 in prize money and 205 FedExCup points because he would have finished T6 (instead of T15), it was not surprising it didn't have a lingering effect on the mentally-strong Furyk. He responded with a T8 at the Deutsche Bank Championship and the T2 last week at the BMW that lifted him 15 places into the No. 3 spot in the FexExCup standings entering next week's TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

By doing so, Furyk is one of five players -- Woods, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum are the others -- who control their destiny at East Lake to claim the $10 million first prize with a victory next week.

How ironic would that be? Furyk has gone almost 800 days without lifting a trophy above his head. But if he does so next week, it would earn him the richest prize in golf.

Of course, Furyk wants to win for more than his bank account.

"It absolutely eats at me," Furyk said. "I wouldn't be a competitor, I wouldn't have a lot of faith in myself or a lot of trust in my game or a lot of belief in my game if it didn't bother me."

Why has someone who won at least one PGA TOUR event in 11 of 13 years from 1995-2007 suddenly gone 0-for-the-last-two-years? That answer can be quite simple.

"The guy out there in the last group is the reason why I haven't had a better chance to win a couple more tournaments," Furyk said at the BMW, referring to Woods.

Sure enough, Furyk was 9 under on the weekend at toughened-up Cog Hill, second-best in the 68-player field, but that only matched Woods' third-round score. Furyk's best other chance at winning this year came at the Memorial Tournament, when he finished a shot back to you-know-who (Woods birdied the last two holes to take the win out of Furyk's pocket).

Furyk was in almost the same position at this time last year when he rolled into East Lake off consecutive top-10 finishes. But he settled for a T6 at THE TOUR Championship, and the victory wait continued. Furyk, who has finished in the top 25 in half of his 26 starts this year, admits it's becoming a little like Groundhog Day.

"Yeah, because it sounds like the same stuff (as) last year at this time," he said. "I've had two pretty solid years. I wasn't able to win last year in '08, and I haven't been able to win this year in '09."

But he insists he has no trouble sleeping at night.

"I'm at ease on the golf course," he said. "I'm trying my best, I'm playing my hardest, I'm working hard, and I think when you're doing that, you go home and you can sleep. I know if I'm patient and keep working hard, good things will come."

Furyk is counting the days.