Furyk will fight the pain in US Open

THEY said he’d be lucky to make it back for the Ryder Cup in September but Jim Furyk had other ideas.

He was intent on defending the US Open Championship he captured at Olympia Fields, Chicago 12 months ago and nothing, not even a badly injured wrist that has sidelined him for the past six months, was going to stop him.

So Furyk has rolled up here at Shinnecock Hills and while he doesn't give himself much chance of retaining the title, he will tee it up here on Thursday if it is physically possible to do so and right now he believes it will be.

Nor is he the only one in this plight with Fred Couples just one of those who doesn't know from one day to the next when he'll be able to play. It's just that Furyk has suffered longer than most and he is still US Open champion.

"I haven't come close to playing a tournament since the March 22 operation to repair torn cartilage in the left wrist," he said. "At the time I claimed I was willing to be patient and I still am. But it has now started to feel good enough to let me dream a little.

"The fact that I'm defending champion and won't have this opportunity too often made me think. Had it been just another event, I probably would have waited to make sure it was fine," Furyk said.

It's hardly necessary to stress that you shouldn't put your bottom dollar on Furyk hanging on to the trophy come Sunday night next. In fact, as the big day draws nearer and nearer, he sounds like a man having second thoughts.

"Last year, I came in trying to win. This year, I'm just trying to start and finish," he said.

Furyk is just one of many golfers who has fallen victim to injury. It is quite ironic, really, because it is a totally non-contact and sedentary activity but they seem to go down as much as footballers and hurlers.

The career of Seve Ballesteros is over at the age of 46 because of all the wear and tear the constant swinging of a golf club had on his back.

Fred Couples is battling through the pain barrier right now because of a serious back ailment that leaves his participation in tournaments in doubt from day to day. It could be argued that Tiger Woods hasn't been the same since undergoing knee treatment at the end of the 2002 season.

It was interesting to see Darren Clarke on the practice putting green at Shinneock yesterday accompanied by his physiotherapist John Newton.

In spite of his dramatic weight loss, Darren is still a big man but he is small when compared to Newton whose work with the Ulsterman helped not only to shed so many pounds but also to keep him supple and injury free. Padraig Harrington has had problems with his neck and that's where Dale Richardson, his Australian physio enters the equation. And yet there seems to be no end to the physical problems encountered by the game's stars.

"They're swinging the clubhead at 125 to 130 miles an hour," said Rich Greco, a well respected American therapist and athletics trainer.

"The joints take the brunt of that."

Couples admits he only plays whenever his back allows him. He has been in contention in the last couple of weeks at the Memorial and the Buick Classic but said: "Last year, I pushed myself because I still love to play. I was leading the tournament at Wachovia and my back went out. I certainly don't think I would have wound up winning. Maybe I would have, but it was just a bummer."

There is irony, too, in the fact that Couples is blessed with one of the most delightful, natural swings in golf. You could never say that about Jim Furyk but both are still victims of the game's injury bug.

It happens to everybody, from the star players to the greatest duffer. Rich Greco said: "Poor shots such as a 'fat' hit that takes too much turf, puts stress on the body. So my advice to the average amateur is take lessons."