With the possible exception of Ben Hogan, no golfer had a more celebrated episode of playing hurt than Tiger Woods. His victory in the Battle of Wounded Knee, edging Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open, is golf’s gold standard of sucking it up.
The heroic equivalent on the senior circuit came last year when Fred Funk hobbled and wobbled his way through the 2009 season on a bum right knee, unable to do so much as bend over to read his putts. But somehow Funk won the U.S. Senior Open and contended in the other Champions Tour majors.
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When the season was over, Funk, the former golf coach at the University of Maryland, had knee replacement surgery. It took four months of rehab to get back on the golf course. It took even longer to regain his form.
But this week in the Tradition, the fourth of five majors on the Champions Tour, Funk, 54, won for the first time in more than a year. His one-stroke victory at the Sunriver Resort in central Oregon was vintage Funk as he hit 54 of 56 fairways.
“It’s been a tough road back,” the Takoma Park native said. “My game has been getting better, and it has gotten better in the past two weeks.”
Funk’s knee problems began a few years ago. Surgery in May 2008 left his right knee bone-on-bone. Fluid had to be drained constantly, and as a result he contracted a serious staph infection. Golf was the least of his concerns.
But through all his knee problems, Funk has continued to thrive on the Champions Tour. After surgery in 2008, he won the Tradition and was runner-up in two other majors.
So consider the possibilities for Funk in this year’s final major, the Senior Players at Avenel on Oct. 7-10. He’s finally healthy. His precision game is back. And he will have a home-course advantage.
Even his old school is cooperating. The Maryland football team will not play that weekend, so Funk will get the undivided attention of Terps fans.
Fear the Turtle, indeed.
