Furyk chooses not to fret

A month later, the questions persist. But there are no sleepless nights.

"It has not haunted me. I don't wake up in a cold sweat," said Jim Furyk, when asked about last month's US Open at Oakmont CC that resulted in his second straight runner-up finish in that major.

He went to the 71st tee late that Sunday afternoon, aware that Angel Cabrera had missed a putt on No. 17, but not knowing whether it was for birdie or for par. It was for par -- Cabrera's bogey had enabled Furyk to seize a share of the lead . No matter, Furyk had made up his mind. He was going to use driver at the uphill, twisting-left, 313-yard, par-4 17th. He was going to try and make birdie.

Instead, Furyk pulled his drive left, missed the green into thick rough, and perhaps tried to play a second shot too deftly. He left it in the rough and made bogey, which ended up being the one-shot difference between him and Cabrera.

"I regret making bogey, but I don't regret how I played the hole. I'd hit driver again, without a doubt," said Furyk, who said he hadn't received a lot of criticism for his play -- although there'd been enough of it to make him play the hole over a few times in his head.

Never was he left second-guessing himself, because he was trying to take advantage of the momentum he had built with birdies at the 13th, 14th, and 15th. That explosive play had allowed him to storm from five shots back to just one.

At the 17th tee, when he indicated that he wanted to hit driver, he waited for caddie Mike "Fluff" Cowan to offer input, but it didn't come in any sort of positive fashion. "Mike said, 'Let's think this through . . .' and he wondered about hitting 3-wood."

Furyk did think about it, but concluded that it would leave him a short wedge and "it would have been a difficult shot."

Had he been playing for par, and not birdie, what would Furyk have done? There was a long pause, then Furyk said he'd probably lean "60-40 toward a layup," with a 3-wood.

Of course, it's all academic, for there are no mulligans at this level of golf and Furyk will have to live with the one-shot loss. Words can't describe how painful that is, "because I probably take that stuff harder than anybody," but at 37 , he said experience has enabled him to maintain a better perspective.

"Early in my career, I took losses even harder," said Furyk. "But I'm also the guy now who says, 'When it's over, it's over.' "

Such maturity is why he doesn't relive the agony of Oakmont CC, other than to concede that his gaffe at the 17th was not with the driver, but with leaving his second shot in the rough. "I would have been better off just getting it up top, even 5 yards off the front of the green," he said.

It's also why he is bemused, in some way, by talk of that 17th hole, even one month later. "There's probably more attention to my second-place finish than my win [at the 2003 US Open]. It's mind-boggling to me," said Furyk.

Certainly, that major triumph sits prominently on a résumé that includes a dozen PGA Tour wins and some of the grandest, most consistent play this side of Tiger Woods. Nineteen times Furyk has finished second, on another 10 occasions he's been third. In the majors, you'd be hard pressed to find a steadier diet of solid play: In 45 starts since 1996, Furyk has a win and 15 top-10 finishes.

Of course, lay those numbers on the table, especially on the eve of the 136th British Open at Carnoustie Golf Links, and you'll get folks wondering why Furyk has only one major win to his credit. Fair enough, because Furyk won't argue with the record. But if you think he's agonizing over Oakmont or last summer's US Open at Winged Foot (T-2 ) or the 2006 British Open at Hoylake (fourth ) or even the 1998 Masters (fourth ) -- all of them championships that could have gone his way with a shot here and there -- you are wrong.

There's only one major slip that stings.

"Birkdale , '98," said Furyk, referring to the British Open of nine summers ago. "That stung . . . I really felt like it was mine to win. I was playing with [eventual champion] Mark [O'Meara]. I was ahead of Mark."

In the end, Furyk shot 70 to finish at 2-over 282 , two shots out of the O'Meara playoff against Brian Watts .

So, there. He still hurts a little. Just not from last month's 17th hole at Oakmont.

Leon shows it’s easy as 1-2-3

She arrived with some serious advance billing and Taylor Leon wasted little time before delivering.

Try just her third start as a professional.

The 20-year-old from Dallas defeated Mollie Fankhauser in a playoff to claim the $11,200 top prize in a Duramed Futures Tour event in Bloomfield, Conn., last Sunday. It enabled Leon to roar into 21st place on the money list, giving her a chance to earn her LPGA Tour card by being one of the top five money winners at season's end.

"During a rain delay [in Sunday's final round] . . . my mom said, 'Anything can happen,' " said Leon, who left the University of Georgia after two years. "And she was right."

Tall with blonde hair that gives her immediate recognition, Leon seems poised for wonderful marketing opportunities. Some have compared the potential to being even greater than that of Natalie Gulbis, the LPGA Tour veteran. In her Futures debut in June, Leon finished 12th. In her second event, the US Women's Open, she missed the cut. A third time proved the charm, which is why the family celebrated.

"She's wanted to do this for a long time," said Leon's mother, Katie. "It is the beginning of a journey and this is a nice start."

‘The guy you wanted to watch play’

Sadly, a generation of golf fans have grown up without having any knowledge of the man's genius. But to those who witnessed the dashing skills of Seve Ballesteros, it is an indelible memory.

"Probably the most creative player who has ever played the game," said Tiger Woods, who was among the many who offered tributes in response to Ballesteros's announcement that at the age of 50 , he is done competing.

"There's not enough great things I can say about Seve," said Ernie Els. "As a player, he totally dominated [the European PGA] Tour, dominated world golf for a while in the late 1980s. He was really the guy you wanted to watch play."

Amen to all that, because what made Ballesteros such a thrill to watch was the way he played with such feel, such passion, such reactionary touches. In a world of cookie-cutter swings and styles, Ballesteros stood out as a dynamic talent who never sought perfection, only a chance to play the next shot. Usually, he figured how to pull it off, too, whether a tree, a wall, or a car was in his way.

He won three British Opens, two Masters, and 50 European PGA Tour events, though his last came in 1995, when he was just 38.

In a sport where great talents keep winning in their 40s and Jack Nicklaus won a major at 46, it is shocking to realize how quickly Ballesteros faded from view. After he won the Spanish Open in 1995, Ballesteros played in 140 European PGA Tour events, missed the cut in 92 of them, and recorded a mere three top-10 finishes, the last coming in 1998. To say his magical talents disappeared would be a huge understatement, but those who were mesmerized by his skills would beg for that period of his career to be wiped clean, as if it never existed.

Instead, focus on those days between 1976, when a 19-year-old Ballesteros nearly stole the British Open from Johnny Miller, and 1988, when he won his third Open Championship and last major.

No one played the game quite like Ballesteros and we will probably never see the likes of him again.

Etc.

Gary Player not only laments the way technology has changed the game, he leaves no doubt as to what else is different these days. "Whether it's HGH, whether it's Creatine, or whether it's steroids, I know for a fact that some golfers are doing it," said the legend from South Africa. Nowhere in the world of golf -- not with the USGA, the Royal & Ancient, the European, or the American PGA Tours -- is there a policy in place for drug testing, but Player thinks there should be. So, too, does Tiger Woods, and when a policy is in place, "I'm interested just like anybody else to see what happens," he said.

With so many of the world's top-ranked players in Carnoustie for the British Open, openings were plentiful for this week's PGA Tour stop, the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee. James Driscoll of Brookline is skipping the Nationwide tournament to make his second start of the year on the PGA Tour. Another entrant will be Ron Philo Jr., the former New England PGA standout who is using one of a handful of exemptions that came along with his victory in the PGA Club Championship. It's a good move for Driscoll, as he sits 23d on the Nationwide money list and will still have plenty of time to make a push into the top 20, which would earn him a PGA Tour exemption for 2008. Fred Funk, who had turned down his exemption into the British Open, intended to play Milwaukee but withdrew with a back injury, which rekindled a debate: Should players be able to play opposite-field events if they turn down spots in major championships? There's plenty of sentiment on both sides of the argument. Said Jerry Kelly: "It would probably be a decent rule, but right now, it's not [a rule], so you have to respect the way guys think."

Several weeks ago at the Bank of America Championship, Lee Trevino was singing the praises of a 17-year-old he had seen play at the Ultimate Game , a high-stakes golf match in Las Vegas. Well, Milwaukee will offer a stage on which we can watch Tony Finau because he shot 64 to take medalist honors in the Monday qualifier for this week's PGA Tour stop. Trevino claims Finau was driving it 400 yards in Vegas and hits it so long he fills out his bag with five wedges. Of Samoan descent, Finau grew up in Utah and turned professional in May. He is the youngest to qualify for a PGA Tour tournament since Chris Couch in 1990 at the Honda Classic.

Sure, it was well below the radar, but there was a pretty intriguing contest at the 32d Westfield PGA Junior Championship. With four birdies in a five-hole stretch starting at the 12th, Alexis Thompson stormed to victory over Kimberly Kim. If you're saying, "What's the big deal?" consider that the winner is just 12 years old. In fact, Thompson a few weeks ago became the youngest qualifier in US Women's Open history, so it's yet another positive step in her career, especially since she shot 66-69 on the weekend to finish at 1-under 283 . Kim, 15 , is no slouch, having won the US Women's Amateur last summer, and her 69-70 weekend left her just one back. Meanwhile, a young lady by the name of Cheyenne Woods (296) finished tied for 13th. Yes, she's Tiger's niece.

An exemption into the PGA Tour's Reno-Tahoe Open (Aug. 2-5 ) has been extended to and accepted by Tadd Fujikawa, the 16-year-old from Hawaii who caught the public's attention during the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot. Born prematurely, Fujikawa is just 5 feet 1 inch, and has faced hurdles all his life. With great determination, Fujikawa turned himself into a pretty good golfer and he qualified for the national championship at Winged Foot. Though he missed the cut, he made it at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, but he was unable to accept the $54,228 prize for finishing T-20 because he was an amateur. Now, he's a professional and will be looking for similar payouts.

Speaking of Hawaii, there's yet another LPGA Tour headed there, which would give the state three. The tournament will be held at the Kapalua Resort's Bay Course in October. The LPGA has also officially added a farm system, announcing yesterday it had acquired the Duramed Futures Tour. The 27-year-old tour, which has launched nearly 300 players onto the big tour, has a 19-event schedule this year, with the top five money winners earning 2008 LPGA Tour cards.

Kel Nagle, the Aussie who authored a stunning victory over Arnold Palmer in the 1960 British Open at St. Andrews, and legendary Irish amateur Joe Carr were voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame by the veteran's committee. Making his British Open debut, Palmer trailed by three shots through 54 holes and closed with a 68, but Nagle proved a tough front-runner and with a final-round 71, he prevailed by one for his only major championship. Carr, who died a few years ago, won three British Amateur titles, but was famously associated with the Walker Cup. Ten times he represented Great Britain & Ireland in the biennial amateur competition against the United States. In 1991, Carr was named captain of the Royal & Ancient and he's widely regarded as the grandest amateur golfer in a nation. Carr and Nagle, 86, will be inducted in November along with Curtis Strange, Hubert Green, Se Ri Pak, and the late Charles Blair Macdonald.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com. Material from personal interviews, wire services, and other beat writers was used in this report.