Thursday 2 April 2015 21:09, UK
Some will use Jim Furyk's position in the Official World Golf Rankings as evidence that the system is flawed. How can the seventh best player in the world be someone who has not won an event since 2010?
Of course, the truth is that the world rankings are not a measure of quality, but consistency over a prolonged period of time. Few can match Gentleman Jim in that regard. In his last 50 events, Furyk has a remarkable 22 top-10 finishes and has five times been runner-up.
Failure to convert any of these second places to firsts leads some to believe that Furyk's days of winning tournaments of any kind are over, let alone the Masters.
That may not be so, but there's no denying that his best chances will come on shorter courses than Augusta, where his best finish of fourth in approaching 20 visits is sufficient to suggest that victory here will prove beyond him once more.
What we can expect is more solid stuff from a player whose last missed cut came in July 2013, and it's not impossible that this 44-year-old may creep into the top 10 at some point.
Sadly for Furyk, golf is increasingly a big-hitters' game - the major venues this season are a clear indication of that - but with a short-game like his, you'd expect Furyk to beat more men than beat him. It's what he does.
