Jim Furyk’s week just keeps getting better.
Two days after setting a new PGA Tour record with his final round 58 in the Travelers Championship, Furyk was named the 2016 Payne Stewart Award recipient. The 22-year tour veteran becomes the 19th award winner since the accolade was created in the late golfer’s memory in 2000.
Furyk will receive the award during the Tour Championship in Atlanta, which starts on Sept. 21.
“It’s an honor,” Furyk said. “Payne was a friend. His spirit and character was so much fun. I look back to our careers and I see a lot of similarities. We were guys that won early in our careers and had strong characters that I think helped guide both of us.”
PGA commissioner Tim Finchem said awarding Furyk had been decided before the 46-year-old shot the first 58 in the tour’s history. Not only was it the first time a player had ever turned it that score, but it also made Furyk the only golfer to ever record two scores under 60 on the tour.
The Payne Stewart Award is given on an annual basis to a professional golfer who best exemplifies the 11-time PGA Tour winner’s character, charity and sportsmanship. Past winners include Ernie Els, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus.
Furyk and his wife run the Jim & Tabitha Furyk Foundation, which works to help families in need in and around Jacksonville, Florida. The couple created the foundation in 2010, which supports many national projects such as Blessings in a Backpack and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
“A lot of us believe this is perhaps the most important award of the year, where we recognize a player who has made significant contributions to the PGA Tour and the sport of golf,” Finchem said. “He’s a player who believes in giving back and championed charitable causes throughout his career.”
Furyk explained his volunteer work today partly stems from an experience during his first year on the tour. He said the rookies were required to give back in some capacity, so he was asked to give a speech to volunteers before a tournament.
By seeing the swarm of people in the room as well as the committees necessary to put everything regarding the tournament in place, Furyk concluded he needed to do more.
“It started to dawn on me that a lot of people have to go through a lot of work for us to go out and make a living,” Furyk said.
The 46-year-old Furyk also reflected on his experiences with Stewart. He joked about meeting up with Stewart in a restaurant in Bermuda around 1995 and spending hours upon hours there before limping to a junior clinic the following morning. But he also discussed Stewart’s ability to guide younger players, which is a characteristic of Stewart’s that Furyk continues to carry with him.
“As a young player, to look up to people like that and have them treat you so well is a great memory,” Furyk said. “I had plenty of moments with him, and I remember the fun.”
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