Just two players shot under par on a blustery Friday morning at the U.S. Senior Open. Marcus Meloan barely finished in red numbers, posting a 1-under 69 around Omaha Country Club.
And then there was Jim Furyk.
The 51-year-old former U.S. Open winner fired what was by far the round of the morning wave, a 6-under 64 that moved him firmly back into contention at the year’s second-to-last senior major championship.
“I was able to see some putts go in, and I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens today, kept the ball in good places,” Furyk said. “When I missed it, I missed it in the right spots for the most part.”
The most notable exception was the par-4 third hole, where Furyk missed the green and then left himself a tricky 30-foot par putt. He holed it.
“That was a very uplifting key moment in the day,” said Furyk, who followed with a birdie at No. 4, his first circle on the card for the round, and two more front-nine birdies, at Nos. 6 and 7. Furyk added three more birdies on the back side, including his last at the par-4 finishing hole.
“I shoot a couple over yesterday, kind of played from behind the 8-ball most of that back nine, and then to go out there and have that putt go in was a little bit of a sigh of relief, and then ripped off a bunch of birdies.”
This week marks Furyk’s third career major start on the PGA Tour Champions. He tied for 16th at the Senior PGA before finishing solo sixth at the Senior Players.