JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The third Constellation Furyk & Friends PGA Tour Champions event tees off Friday morning at Timuquana Country Club. Jacksonville resident Jim Furyk’s event has brought big time golf to the area with another marquee event filled with stars.
The three-round tournament has a $2.1 million purse and includes 78 golfers. But it’s tournament host Jim Furyk and his wife Tabitha who continue to take this event to another level.
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“Oh, it’s special. I think what — I think what’s special, I don’t want to put words in Tabitha’s mouth, either, but just the support from the community, from friends even all around the country that come to Jacksonville to help with the event, that have helped it grow throughout the years,” Furyk said. “Not only the last three years, but kind of the first 10 leading up to kind of transforming into a PGA Tour Champions event. I think we’re blessed.”
Here’s what you need to know about the event.
It’s on TV
Friday and Saturday rounds will be shown from 2-4 p.m. on Golf Channel. Sunday’s final round will be televised on tape delay on Golf Channel from 9:30-11:30 p.m.
Autograph spot
The Fisher Tousey area is called Autograph Alley. It’s located behind the 18th green and to the left of the practice putting green.
Don’t miss the football
Furyk is a big time Steelers fan and loves football. A tournament in the middle of football season was designed with pigskin in mind. There are videoboards set up in the Publix Tailgate Village between the No. 17 and 18 holes where videboards with college games (Saturday) and NFL games (Sunday) will be on.
The charity aspect
Jim and Tabitha Furyk have been leaders in the area, be it in St. Johns or Duval County, for years. Since its inception, the Furyk & Friends event has raised more than $2.5 million in charitable impact for the community.
“We’re trying to help northeast Florida and a lot of great charities here in the Jacksonville area. That’s the rallying point. That’s why we get all the support, because these folks that support us and the companies that support us are doing the same within their corporations and they see all the good work,” Furyk said. “Jacksonville’s near and dear to all of us, so when you start seeing a little bit of the need, you start working with some of these charities, you realize there’s a much greater need out there.
“That’s kind of what this event’s allowed us to do. We were raising four or five hundred thousand dollars and that’s nothing to scoff at, it was wonderful, but we kind of had a ceiling. We didn’t have a way to really grow and get bigger. We wanted to help more folks and more of these wonderful charities we have in town.”
Previous winners
2022: Steve Stricker (14-under 202)
2021: Phil Mickelson (15-under 201)
Big names headline event
This event has become stacked with big names. Six World Golf Hall of Fame members are in the field this year — Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer, Davis Love III, Colin Montgomerie and Vijay Singh. There are 15 major winners in the tournament and 19 PGA Tour Champions major winners.
Almost the end
The Furyk & Friends is the next-to-last PGA Tour Champions event in the regular season. The SAS Championship next week in Cary, NC is the finale. The three-tournament Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs start Oct. 20. Defending champion Steve Stricker has won six times this season and tops the Charles Schwab Cup standings by nearly $2 million over No. 2 Bernhard Langer.
Notable tee times
A look at some of the notable threesomes and their first-round tee times. Full tee times can be found here.
9:20 a.m. — David Duval, Chris DiMarco, Scott Dunlap
10:02 a.m. — John Daly, Rocco Mediate, Fred Funk
10:33 a.m. — Alex Cejka, Vijay Singh, Dicky Pride
10:44 a.m. — Ernie Els, Steve Flesch, Stephen Ames
10:54 a.m. — Bernhard Langer, Miguel Angel Jimemez, Steven Alker
11:05 a.m. — Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Davis Love III
11:15 a.m. — Jerry Kelly, Thongchai Jaidee, Retief Goosen