Furyk & Friends: Another banner week, another worthy winner as Steve Stricker dominates

First there was a sore throat and a cough.

Then a fever that reached as high as 103 degrees.

Next came Pericarditis, irregular heartbeat, jaundice, high white and red cell blood counts, high liver functions tests, an inability to eat solid food and the loss of nearly 30 pounds from an already slim build.

Steve Stricker had a long list of ailments beginning last fall after he led the U.S. to a Ryder Cup victory in his home state of Wisconsin. It lasted into the early spring and doctors couldn't pinpoint anything.

The only thing they knew was that it wasn't COVID-19, it wasn't cancer and it wasn't the Crohn's Disease and liver transplant that contributed to the death of his older brother Scott in 2014.

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• Great golf: Healthy at last, Steve Stricker plays near-flawless golf to win Constellation Furyk & Friends

• Riding the Bus — and his putter: Steelers team wins Charity Challenge over Tony Boselli, Josh Scobee

• A pair of Jacks: Jack Nicklaus, former Wolfson patient Jack Jones, kick-off Furyk & Friends

But after six months away from golf, a variety of antibiotics and more rest than he wanted, Stricker was able to return to play on the PGA Tour Champions in May.

Call it a new lease on life. Call it relief that he got his health back. But one thing's for certain: Since returning, Stricker has played some of the best golf of his career this season.

Attacking the par-5s and making only one bad swing on the final hole when it didn't matter, Stricker broke a five-way tie for the most victories on the Champions Tour by winning his fourth title, the Constellation Furyk & Friends on Sunday, by two shots over Harrison Frazar and three over tournament host Jim Furyk at the Timuquana Country Club.

Stricker slams door on the field

Stricker (69) had a streak of 46 bogey-free holes in a row going back to the front nine of Friday's first round and finished at 14-under-par 202. Frazar (65), a Monday qualifier, birdied four of his first five holes and wound up getting as close as anyone to Stricker, who began the day with a three-shot lead over Furyk (69) and Mike Weir (75).

Bernhard Langer (68) and Thongchai Jaidee (69) tied for fourth at 10-under, Padriag Harrington (69) was alone in sixth at 9-under and Davis Love III of St. Simons Island, Ga. (68), Jerry Kelly (69) and Lee Janzen (71) tied for seventh at 8-under.

Stricker missed only two fairways, birdied all four par-5s (he was 12-under on those holes for the week) and bogeyed only the final hole when he chunked an approach shot and then chipped over the green.

"I felt like if I could go around here and not make a bogey today and take care of the par-5s, birdie two or three of them, shoot 3-under par or 4-under par, it was going to take a really special round [to catch him]," he said, standing by his wife of nearly 30 years, Nikki, who has been his caddie this season. "I didn't make a mistake really until the last shot out of the fairway and at that point I figured it was over. It was a good day ... a tough day when you have a three-shot lead, but I did all the things I was supposed to do."

Winning isn't taken for granted

Stricker has played lights-out since capturing the Regions Tradition on May 15, his fourth Champions Tour major. He's finished among the top-three in seven of 10 starts, and in the last six weeks, he's won three times and finished third in four starts.

Stricker has been in the 60s in his last 11 rounds and has a scoring average of 67.0. The $300,000 first-place check vaulted him to third on the money list with $2,473,725.

"We never take any of these for granted," Nikki Stricker said of her husband's 35 worldwide victories. "It was just about staying patient and kind of doing his thing."

Here's the scary part: Stricker said he's only beginning to feel at full strength.

"I think the last month or so, I feel like I'm showing better signs," he said. "I still feel like it's not all quite there. My body, the way it feels isn't quite the same, strength-wise. I've played a lot of golf lately, I've lost some weight again lately, so I don't know if I just need to get going again, put some weight back on, start working out harder again and try to get back up there 10 more pounds."

And at any rate, it's getting close to Stricker's favorite time of year: hunting season, where he loses himself deep in the Wisconsin woods to use a bow to hunt whitetail deer.

"I'm 55 years old, I've had a nice career, I've been fortunate enough to play a long time, but I still feel like that's my passion [hunting], that's what I love to do," he said. "So I wait for this time period all year long. It's really only about a month of good hunting and then it goes away, so it's like I hate to miss that month. Unfortunately, the Schwab Cup playoffs are right in that month time frame. We'll see. We'll see what happens at home and I'll go from there."

Frazar makes a run

Furyk, who tied for fourth and finished third in the first two years of his tournament, said it was going to take an extraordinary round to catch Stricker on yet another day of Chamber of Commerce weather.

"Steve's not going to give the tournament away and he's not going to back up," Furyk said. "Someone's going to have to go chase him."

Frazar nearly did. After making the field by winning a Monday qualifier with a 65 at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley, the former University of Texas player posted his first career top-10 on the Champions Tour.

His early run was fueled by precise iron shots that set up four birdie putts of 8 feet or less. He posted three more birdies on the back nine but missed two long birdie attempts on his last two holes.

Frazar is still content. With a top-10, he's automatically in the field for next week's SAS Championship in Raleigh, N.C., the final regular-season event, and his $176,000 second-place check gave him $333,527 and at 52nd place, he's inside the top-72 that will qualify for the Schwab Cup playoffs.

He's had his own health issues, such as back injuries, and didn't play much golf for about five years until becoming eligible for the PGA Tour Champions.

"I've felt very good about my game for about the last five or six week," said Frazar, who is a fellow member with world No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler at the Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas. "I'm finally getting to the point where I'm saving strokes instead of throwing them away."

Round two recap: Stricker sets tournament record

Patience is a virtue on courses such as the Timuquana Country Club, but when opportunity strikes – as it did on the back nine Saturday for Stricker – it's time to take charge.

Stricker came from two shots off the lead through 12 holes by playing the next four at 5-under, and with a tournament-record 64, seized the second-round lead at 11-under-par 133.

Furyk (69) and Weir (68) tied for second at 8-under. Janzen (68) and Jaidee (65) finished at 7-under.

A crowd at 6-under was led by Langer (68), who had three birdies and an eagle on the back nine, Ken Duke (68), who aced the par-3 17th hole, Harrington (69), Steve Flesch (71) and Rob Labritz (71).

Harrington and Labritz both birdied the final hole.

Stricker dominates par-5s

Stricker started his move to the top with an 8-foot birdie putt at the par-5 13th, converting a bunker shot. Stricker made a 15-footer for birdie at the par-3 14th, eagled the par-5 15th on a 25-foot putt and then dropped another one of similar length at the par-4 16th.

“You never know when a run like that's going to come,” he said. “You just try to keep plugging along.  Some of these par 3s you're just trying to get it on the green. You literally are just trying to get it on the green and go from there, make a par and move on. They're difficult to hit.”

Stricker played the par-5s at 5-under and made par all six times he missed a green.

“He's playing really solid right now,” Furyk said. “We're going to have to go catch him.”

Furyk made only one birdie among his first 12 holes but he drove the ball better (hitting 11 fairways) and failed to get up-and-down only once after missing five greens.

“I'm actually real happy with the round today,” said the Jacksonville resident. “To be honest with you, more solid. [Friday] I got a little loose, hit some awkward tee shots, had some really good saves, especially on the way in.

“Today was a little bit more textbook, kind of kept it in the fairway a lot,” he added. “I hit a bunch of greens. When I did miss greens, I put the ball usually in pretty good positions to get the ball up and down. Really, I was more comfortable if that made sense.”

Duke aces No. 17, then does a dance

Duke made his sixth hole-in-one in PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions competition, using a 9-iron from 138 yards out at the 17th. It’s the second ace in the two-year history of the Furyk & Friends, with both coming on the same hole. Tom Lehman made one at the 17th last year.

Duke said he was getting frustrated after taking a bogey at the par-5 15th, courtesy of a water shot.

“I was telling [his caddie], ‘let’s make something,’” he said. “Just hit a green.”

Duke broke into an awkward victory dance of sorts, prompting some judging from the Golf Channel announcers.

“Dancing with the Stars is not calling me any time soon,” he said.

Round one recap: Furyk aims to win

Furyk didn't get too distracted by his off-course duties this week.

He’ll never be too busy to focus on trying to win his own event.

Furyk birdied three of his last four holes on the front nine at Timuquana on Friday and then had a clean card with two birdies on the back to finish with a 5-under 67 and a share of the lead with Flesch and Rob Labritz.

“I didn’t think much about it today,” Furyk said of being the tournament host. “I played well here last year [tying for fourth] and I was happy with the way I scored and played and got the ball in the hole. When I’m off the course I'm thinking about our celebrities finishing, the party for the caddies, a cocktail party downtown for Constellation … I think it’s kind of healthy. It gets my mind off golf. Then when I do step in the ropes, I’m locked in and try to flip the switch.”

Furyk hit only half the 14 fairways and missed five green but got up-and-down four times and needed only 25 putts.

His best escape was when he recovered from a drive at No. 16 that went low and left, between two trees and in a sandy lie. He considered laying up but decided on a wedge shot between a gap in the trees, with the ball landing a foot from the hole.

“I hit some bad drives, got some good breaks,” he said.

Flesch won the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach two weeks ago for his second Champions Tour title of the season and his third overall. He got off to a quick start with birdies on two of his first three holes and birdied the last.

He’s also the low-returning left-hander in the field: 2021 champion Phil Mickelson isn’t playing because of his suspension from the Tour. Flesch was solo third last year and has played his first four rounds at Timuquana at 15-under.

Flesch missed only three greens on Friday and said the course is playing tougher than last season after a renovation firmed up the greens and dry weather since Ian passed the area last week have made them even more difficult.

“Greens are tough to get the ball close this year,” he said. “Seems like the runoffs are a little more severe. It kind of suits my conservative style of play. I’ve never been a guy who kind of aims at a lot of flags. Drove it well, made some great putts and it added up to a great score.”

Labritz, who was a club pro from Pound Ridge, N.Y., was the Champions Tour national qualifying tournament medalist and has had a solid season, entering the week 38th on the Schwab Cup points race.

He tied for fourth in the U.S. Senior Open and has seven top-25 finishes.

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Furyk & Friends: Another worthy winner as Steve Stricker dominates