Augusta, Ga. – Eight holes into Friday’s second round of the Masters, Jim Furyk was 2-under par and had climbed onto the first page of the leaderboard. Hours later, he needed to sink a 4-foot putt just to make the weekend cut.
Furyk’s survival meant 47 players would make the final two rounds and, as the first one out Saturday, the former U.S. Open and Ryder and President’s Cup member would stroll the Augusta National Golf Club with a noncompeting marker, Jeff Knox.
“I was never asked about it,” Furyk said of his options. “I was just introduced to Jeff this morning.”
What could have been an awkward day turned out to be a pleasant experience for both men. Furyk shot a 4-under 68 that moved him to even-par 216, and Knox, a member at The National, as the club is known here, got to join the rarefied air of the PGA Tour.
As he left the postround scoring area, Knox was asked by a Masters official to come over and chat with the reporters who had gathered. Knox quipped, “Can’t I have a beer first?”
Told no, he reluctantly moved forward, leading Furyk’s caddie, Mike “Fluff” Cowan, to crack, “I bet you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into, did you?”
Actually, Knox did. He had a similar turn here in 2003, playing two rounds with Craig Stadler. And a month ago, he was told that, if the situation arose, he would once again return to the grand stage.
“But I’m the golf course committee, so I’ve been kind of busy,” Knox said. “I hadn’t picked up a golf club in about a week until about 7:30 Friday night.”
Knox said he hit a good drive on the opening, 455-yard, par-4 first, “but then it got a little nerve-racking. I couldn’t feel my knees or my shoulder on my second shot.”
Knox said his main function was to keep things as normal as possible for Furyk. On a couple of holes, Knox said he picked up his ball on the green to better enable the pro to maintain his rhythm. If he “gave” himself those putts, Knox said he figured he shot about 3-over, a 75, for the day.
“He was a very good player,” Furyk said. “I enjoyed playing with him a lot.”
Knox said he has played from the tournament tees a number of times, with his best round a couple of strokes under par. Exactly six months after the 2003 Masters, however – “I can tell you the exact day, Oct. 10” – Knox said he shot a 61 from the member’s tees.
The course played at about 6,400 yards for members almost three years ago. Asked the difference between then and now, Knox chuckled: “About 1,000 yards.”
