Champions Tour Insider: Funk closer to dominance

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Fred Funk's 20 under total shattered the 72-hole U.S. Senior Open record.

Fred Funk's timing is as impeccable as his driving.

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By winning the U.S. Senior Open, Funk earned a spot in next year's U.S. Open. At Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the most charming places on earth. If a golfer is going to parlay one victory into an invitation, Pebble Beach is a tough place to top.

Funk can't wait to get there.

"If it was Bethpage, I would probably not go," Funk said. "I would just say, 'No, thank you.'"

He is kidding, of course. Maybe.

This much is certain: Funk isn't going to miss next week's JELD-WEN Tradition, where he is defending champion, and he'll arrive in Oregon with his game in pristine condition.

Funk is on a roll. He's running on all cylinders, and his record in Champions Tour majors is outstanding.

Funk's victory at Crooked Stick marked the seventh consecutive time he has finished in the top five in a major championship on the Champions Tour. It is a remarkable feat.

The U.S. Senior Open victory ranks at the very top of Funk's career achievements.

"It probably ties for first," Funk said. "I'm going to put THE PLAYERS (2005) right there with it. This might be a notch higher because it is a national championship. The only reason I put The Players that close is because of the strength of the field and it's my new hometown and living there is pretty cool.

"But this is big."

How Funk won it is big, too.

Funk's 72-hole total of 20-under-par 268 set a record for most strokes under-par in a United States Golf Association event, beating by 3 strokes the previous mark held by Hale Irwin at the 2000 U.S. Senior Open.

"That's pretty special," Funk said. "Tha t's something I didn't fathom happening but it did. The biggest thing is getting that name on that trophy and all the great names that are on there and being part of that history."

Funk was in total control. He won by six strokes and, except for a temporary glitch in the middle of the final round, he never gave any reason for those in pursuit to think they might somehow catch him.

One by one, the challengers paid tribute to Funk's dominant performance.

"He hits as straight as any man on the planet," Loren Roberts said. "That's what you've got do at an Open Championship because the rough is so tough. When he does that and gets the putter going, you see what he is doing. Going lights out."

"He played great golf," Greg Norman said. "That's very, very impressive."

"It was awesome stuff," Joey Sindelar said.

"Phenomenal," said amateur Tim Jackson.

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Funk has finished in the top five in all three Champions Tour majors in 2009.

"Freddy is capable of winning on the PGA TOUR," Russ Cochran said. "When he gets going, he puts it in one direction and goes. He has no weaknesses. And I think he enjoys being in competition."

Two weeks ago, Funk lost a playoff to Roberts at the Senior British Open. This week, Funk returns to Sunriver, Oregon, and the JELD-WEN Tradition at the Crosswater Club. It is the third Champions Tour major in a row.

Funk won last year's JELD-WEN Tradition with a 19-under total, a three-stroke margin over Mike Goodes and five shots better than Tom Watson and Jay Haas.

Funk will be ready to apply the same mind-set that served him so well at Crooked Stick. He won't worry about hitting a bad shot. Instead, he will commit to the task at hand and think only of making solid swings.

"That's the mind games that you have to deal with, especially when you're at the top and everybody is chasing you and you've got a tough golf course ahead of you," Funk said after his victory at Crooked Stick.

"You're constantly playing seesaw back and forth with your positive thoughts, negative thoughts, positive thoughts. You're constantly fighting back and forth. The biggest thing is getting over and committing. You've got to commit. That's what I wanted to do and I did it most of the day. I sure can't say I did it all day but I did it most of the day."

Funk hit the shots that needed to be hit at the right time.

"When I got in trouble, I got out of trouble," he said. "I had some clutch putts or good wedges in there."

Funk's mistakes came at the seventh and eighth holes but saved pars and that "kept the momentum I had going and I started to free-wheel it."

Champions Tour Insider notes:

• Funk is the new leader in the Charles Schwab Cup race, leaping past Bernhard Langer. It's the first time this season that Langer has not been the leader. Funk, with 1,833, has a lead of 218 points over Langer. Loren Roberts is third with 1,477 points and Joey Sindelar is fourth.

•Langer, Funk and Roberts are 1-2-3 in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship points list. Langer remains the money leader by a comfortable margin, followed by Funk, Roberts and Sindelar.

•The Champions Tour begins a two-week break this week and will return August 17-23 for the JELD-WEN Tradition in Sunriver, OR.

• Russ Cochran's third-place finish at the U.S. Senior Open was his best finish on any tour since a T2 at the 1997 Buick Open.