Jim Furyk looks to regain rhythm at Oakmont

Jim Furyk stood on the 18th fairway in a practice round, feeling the firmness of the turf under his feet.

To satisfy his curiosity, Furyk took his golf ball and threw it against the ground to see how high it might bounce.

It came back to him like a rubber ball.

“Three times,” Furyk said.

In a similar manner, Furyk would like a little bounce-back in his game as he returns to Oakmont Country Club, scene of one of his major disappointments.

The 2003 U.S. Open champion with the Western Pennsylvania connection was out for three months after having surgery on his left wrist in February. He has appeared in just four events on the PGA Tour since returning, missing the cut in two of them (Wells Fargo, Colonial).

“It’s not fun to be away from golf,” Furyk said. “It’s tough being off for seven to eight months and getting back in flow. But I’m starting to get back to my rhythm.”

Furyk, who was 2 when his dad was the head professional at Uniontown Country Club in the early 1970s, had his rhythm going in 2007 when the U.S. Open was previously played at Oakmont. He finished tied for second behind Angel Cabrera after making a charge on the back nine with a flurry of birdies — a rarity at Oakmont — at Nos. 13, 14 and 15.

But Furyk made a costly mistake at No. 17, the shortest par-4 hole on the course, when he used a driver and knocked his tee shot over the green into a grassy slope. Furyk left his first pitch short of the green and ended up making bogey.

“It was the right play,” Furyk said, standing outside the Oakmont clubhouse, defending the decision to use a driver. “Some may argue with me, but it was the right play. Cabrera had the lead going to 17 right in front of me and he laid up and made bogey. If I laid up and lost by one I’d be kicking myself in the rear for playing conservatively and losing the Open.”

Furyk said what actually cost him the Open was two other aggressive mistakes earlier in the round — trying to drive the green at No. 2 and attempting to reach the green in two at the 632-yard 12th hole. Like he did at No. 17, which was playing 277 yards on the final day, Furyk made bogeys on each of those holes.

“If I had to go back and do things differently … I went for three greens in less than regulation and made bogey on all three,” Furyk said. “Two and 12, when I look back, I’d do it differently. I have no regrets on 17 at all.”

Furyk said he has seen little difference in the course he played in 2007 and the one he will attempt to conquer — heck, survive — today. Furyk tees off at 1:58 p.m. with two former winners at Oakmont — Cabrera and Ernie Els (1994).

“It’s tough, it’s firm, it’s fast, the rough is up, it’s thick, it’s in tournament shape right now,” Furyk said. “It’s right on. I don’t see much difference. Maybe right now it’s a touch firmer and faster at this stage of the week, but maybe that’s because of the forecast and rain on the way.”

Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.