Don't worry -- Furyk will find the winner's circle again

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Jim Furyk has been hanging around the leaderboard, but he has yet to end his two-year victory drought on the PGA TOUR.

Since he picked up his first PGA TOUR win at the 1995 Las Vegas Invitational, Jim Furyk has averaged more than one win a season. He has also represented the U.S. team on every Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team since 1997.

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Jim Furyk is the featured player for this week's PGATOUR.COM Player Spotlight at the AT&T National. For more on Furyk, click here.

Besides Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, there is no player who has won more times in the last 14 years on TOUR than Furyk. A total of 13 wins, including the 2003 U.S. Open, before the age of 40 puts him on potential World Golf Hall of Fame pace.

But it has been a couple of years now since Furyk successfully defended his Canadian Open crown in 2007 for victory No. 13. Since then, he has 16 top-10 finishes and has missed only a handful of cuts. Yet he has made 45 TOUR starts since his last win; that's his second-longest drought since he broke through with that first win in '95.

So what do we make of the fact that Furyk has struggled to get back into the winner's circle for nearly two years now?

The first thing to remember is that it is hard to win on TOUR -- really hard. When you hang around professional golf, there is always someone screaming that money is ruining the game. Furyk, Fred Funk and so many others counter that argument every week just by showing up and trying to win golf tournaments. Long ago, Furyk showed that second wasn't good enough; he has those 13 wins to prove it.

Lurking in the back of the mind of every young TOUR player is whether or not he will be able to make a living at this game. Furyk answered that a long time ago before Tiger came on the scene and the purses on TOUR ballooned.

At 39, he's playing some of the best golf of his career. He had three consecutive top-10s going into the U.S. Open at monstrous Bethpage Black. One of those was a heart-breaking second to Tiger at the Memorial Tournament. If you are going to play at the top of the game in this era, you are going to finish second to Tiger on occasion, though, and Furyk is fully aware of that fact.

On the course and around the clubhouse he's the consummate, if not typical, professional. He quietly honors all interview and autograph requests without hesitation. There is no player who has spent as much time in the top 10 in the world who has been as generous with his time. Furyk has somehow managed to avoid the cocoon that envelopes most PGA TOUR players. He is as grounded today as he was at the beginning of his career.

Absent in his life is the entourage of trainers, teachers and representatives that hold the public at bay. Furyk's teacher is his father -- always has been. Sure, he has representation but they are not in front of the press center directing traffic and telling reporters, "Just one more question." Furyk handles all of that himself.

There is a private and entertaining side to Furyk that would surprise most golf fans. Sit in front of a television on a Sunday afternoon with the Steelers playing and you see a different side of him. Engage him in conversation about something other than golf and you quickly discover a thoughtful and well-rounded person.

Furyk may or may not win this week at the AT&T National in Washington, D.C., but chances are he will be part of the story. When players talk about becoming more consistent and giving themselves repeated chances to win whether they know it or not they are modeling themselves after Jim Furyk.

I don't know why it has been nearly two years since he has won other than the fact that it takes more than just great play to win on the PGA TOUR. It takes a little luck, opportunity and timing.

Don't worry, Furyk will win again. Throughout this run of near misses he has never lost focus. He has been right there beating on the door the whole time. This is hardly a slump -- just a frustrating period of good play without the ultimate reward. He has been winning for a long time on the PGA TOUR. Trust me, it will happen again soon.

John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.