He Put a Hurtin' On 'Em

Playing 72 holes without a three-putt, banged-up Fred Funk hobbles to a six-stroke victory at the U.S. Senior Open

MAJOR IMPROVEMENT: Weeks after wondering if he'd have to give up the game because of debilitating injuries, Funk was extra straight at Crooked Stick.

By Bill Fields

Photos by Charles Laberge

August 10, 2009

For a guy with a right knee that will need some major help from medical science before long, a joint void of cartilage that also developed a potentially life-threatening staph infection late last year, Fred Funk is doing OK. For a guy with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that keeps him from making any practice swings, he's all right. For a guy who has to be pulled and stretched like salt-water taffy for nearly two hours before every round he plays, he's hanging in there.

Funk is doing so well, in fact, that he made a laugher of the serious business of the 30th U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick GC in Carmel, Ind. It was a record-setting performance that would have been impressive even had it not been authored by someone who, sooner rather than later, will be shopping for an artificial knee that might jeopardize the career of a late-blooming Little Big Man whose $470,000 first-place check enabled him to surpass $25 million in career earnings on the PGA and Champions tours.

If urgency can inspire excellence, perhaps that had something to do with Funk's 20-under 268 at Crooked Stick. It is the lowest 72-hole aggregate in relation to par in USGA history, surpassing Hale Irwin's 17 under in winning the 2000 U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley, and gave Funk, who had a few hitches in his gait but no glitches in his game, a six-stroke victory over Joey Sindelar. Left-hander Russ Cochran was third at 12 under, with Greg Norman and Loren Roberts (who matched Cochran's course-record third-round 64 with one of his own Sunday) another stroke behind at T-4.

"The biggest thing is getting that name on that trophy, and all the great names that are on there," Funk said, sitting with the Francis Ouimet Trophy within arm's reach. "This might be a notch higher than the [2005 Players Championship] because it is a national championship."

Eighteen years ago, when Crooked Stick hosted its first major, it was the domain of Long John Daly, whose length overwhelmed the then-longest course ever used for the PGA Championship. Pete Dye's 1964 creation measured 7,316 yards on the scorecard for the seniors, the longest in the event's history, but it played a bit shorter than that each day (No. 12 was shortened from 419 yards to a drivable 307 in the fourth round). Moreover, firm fairways that did a good imitation of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway equalized the field by hyping driving distances for all.

There's no comparing the primetime experience of Sindelar and Jackson (above), but the Tennessee amateur impressed the tour veteran with his ability to follow a record, first-round 66 with solid play in front of TV cameras and a big gallery.

Funk not only hit the most fairways of anyone (47 of 56), he averaged 291.38 yards in driving distance, 20 yards more than his 2009 average. "They were rolling forever," said Scott Simpson, who was T-6 while averaging 291.12 yards off the tee, more than 20 yards longer than his best season average as a senior. "It was kind of fun for me. I was long, for a week."

For two days the story was Tim Jackson, a 50-year-old amateur from Germantown, Tenn., who had tried 14 times without success to qualify for the U.S. Open, but made it into the senior version on his first crack with a 67 at a sectional qualifier. The 1994 and 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and two-time U.S. Walker Cupper had dialed back his national play in recent years, but he tuned up for the Open by playing against the young bucks in the Southern Amateur (T-18) and Porter Cup (T-36). "Realistically, I was shooting to make the cut," Jackson said of his aspirations at Crooked Stick. "I've got guys at home saying, 'You know, if you play your game, you can win.' I'm thinking, 'Yeah, right. I can beat Greg Norman.' "