Jim Furyk

After a couple down seasons, one of which was spent preparing to be the captain of the Ryder Cup team, it wasn't much of a surprise to see Furyk play better this past season. What was a surprise was the level of play Furyk managed. Furyk made the cut in 15 of 20 starts, had eight top-25s, three top-10s and one runner-up finish. Furyk is only five seasons removed from a season in which he nearly earned $6 million, but at the age of 49, it's hard to imagine he could do any better than the $2.6 million he made last season. As such, he's an easy pass in salary cap formats this season.

Now age 48, Furyk's hall-of-fame career of consistent play is winding down. Although he's still one of the best scramblers on tour, his lack of length off the tee continues to hamper him each year. His 2018 Ryder Cup captain duties likely preoccupied him to some degree, but don't expect any sort of large rebound next season for the aging veteran. He'll be competitive on courses where accuracy is rewarded, but it's best to avoid Furyk in most season-long formats.

The current Ryder Cup captain made 18 starts last season, making the cut in 10 of them with a best of T6 at the RSM Classic. Furyk finished 157th in points. With this being a Ryder Cup year, you have to figure Furyk will play even less, particularly since he is waiting to use his career money exemption. Furyk, who turns 48 in May, is fourth all-time in earnings, behind Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh. Furyk is first on our list because he could connect with a decent payday in two or three tournaments this season, as he did at the RSM. But still, he didn't even clear $600,000 last season.

Furyk spent most of last season on the sidelines due to an injury, but when he finally got on the course, he looked like his old self. Furyk isn't the golfer he used to be, but he still has plenty left in the tank. At just over $1.5 million from last year, he's a "must-have" in salary cap formats. The tricky part is determining where he belongs in a draft format. In year's past, Furyk was a first-round pick and while he doesn't belongs there anymore, he's certainly in the mix for 2nd-round consideration.

It's amazing that a player can make nearly $6 million in a season without the benefit of a win somewhere along the line. Furyk's winless drought continues to grow, and it's to the point where now anytime he's in the lead come Sunday, it will be brought up. Will he ever win again on the PGA Tour? Chances are he'll stumble into one before too long, but for a guy who's struggling on Sunday, this is a pretty high price to pay. He's not worth the nearly $6 million you'd have to spend on him in a salary league, but he is still a first-round pick in draft leagues.

Furyk's failure to close while in the lead is becoming quite the burden and you have to wonder if it's something he can overcome going forward. It seems odd to question whether a guy who's won so often on the PGA Tour can close, but his inability to do so, time and time again over the past couple years is troublesome. There's no reason to expect that his game will fall-off completely, but at this stage, it's hard to see much upside. Furyk is still a reliable player and should go in the 25-35 range, but he's not a good salary cap option.

One word can sum up Furyk's 2012 season - frustrating. Perhaps another word - maddening. Furyk was in position to win a few times last season, but each and every time he squandered his lead. To say he was in position is an understatement. He outright had a win in the bag a couple times last season only to fall apart on Sunday. If this were 10 years ago, you could chalk up such play to just an off year, but considering Furyk is getting up there in age (42), you have to wonder if he's slipping just a bit. Twelfth on the money list is nothing to sneeze at; he had a good year, but it could have been so much more. Furyk won't fall off the face of the Earth this season, he'll still be in the mix, but don't expect much of an improvement in his earnings this season. In draft leagues, Furyk is a second-round pick.

No one expected the kind of drop-off we saw from Jim Furyk last year. In case you forgot, Furyk won the FedEx Cup in 2010, and the following year he failed to crack the Top-50 on the money list. Furyk still has the reputation as one of the most reliable players on the PGA Tour, which makes this drop-off even more indescribable. Furyk will bounceback, however. He's too good to play at this level for this long, and he started to make strides toward the end of last season, so he should be fine.

Furyk will turn 41 in May, and while most players that age are starting the inevitable decline, Furyk appears to be getting better. In fact, his 2010 season was his best since 2006 when he topped $7 million. Players of Furyk's caliber can sometimes thrive in their 40s; Vijay Singh had some of his best years at 40-plus. That said, it's hard to fight against father time. Furyk set the bar pretty high last season when he earned nearly $5 milion, and though he's finished well above that number before, it's doubtful he can do it again this year. He's still a top-10 player, but in salary cap leagues, he's a risky proposition with little upside. Furyk continued to hit fairways at a high rate in 2010, but his distance off the tee leaves a lot to be desired.

Furyk made almost $4 million in winnings, finished fourth in the FedEx standings, and recorded 11 top-10s in 2009, but he did not hoist the trophy in any tournament he entered. Furyk is a good bet to match last year's performance, but he has the potential to produce at a much-higher level in 2010. Considering Furyk nearly cracked the $4-million mark without winning in 2009, odds are that he'll improve on last season's earnings if he's able to finish a 2010 tournament on top. Furyk, who was 13th at the end of 2008, moved up to sixth in the 2009 final Official World Golf Rankings.

Furyk's 2008 season was very similar to Robert Allenby's. A bunch of top-25s, a handful of top-10s and a couple near misses. Missing from his resume also was a win. Furyk is getting up there in age, but he's shown no signs of slowing down. Expect the usual consistent play from him in 2009. Take Furyk in round one of your draft leagues, in fact you could even take him in the top half of round one.

Furyk had a solid 2007 season, which could have been a lot better if not derailed by a back injury late in the summer. Furyk got off to a slow start last season, but he found his groove in late May when he placed runner-up at the Colonial. From there he posted top-5 finishes in four of his next six events, including a win at the Canadian Open. A back injury made things tough the rest of the season and forced a withdrawal from the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and a missed cut the following week at the PGA Championship. If Furyk can stay healthy, he should be able to improve upon his 2007 numbers.

Furyk set the bar pretty high in 2006. So high in fact that it's unlikely he will reach it again in 2007. Furyk has established himself as one of the best golfers in the world. He's in that group right below Tiger, and might be at the top of that pack. Furyk was a factor from the start of the season until the end, but made most of his money during a stretch from June through October in which he finished in the top four in seven of eight events. There's no doubt that Furyk was the second-best week-to-week golfer on the PGA Tour last year, but the gap between him and No. 3, Adam Scott, isn't as large as the stats would indicate. Furyk will do well in 2007, but don't expect the same production. A look at his 2006 stats and it's clear why he did so well. Top-10 rankings in greens, driving accuracy and putting. Driving distance, however, was not a bright spot. He was 158th in that category. And there's the problem. Driving distance is the hardest area to improve upon, which means he'll have to hit even more greens or putt better than he did last year to improve on his 2006 numbers.

Furyk bounced back well from an injury riddled 2004 season with a career-high in earnings in 2005. I must admit, I did not see this coming. I knew Furyk was a good player, but his 2005 season elevated him into the top-tier of the PGA tour. Here's a surprising stat: Furyk won only one event last year. That actually is a good thing, however. He somehow finished fourth on the money and only won one event. He did have four runner-up finishes, which can really add up. There's no reason why Furyk should slow down in 2006 and he should get into the winner's circle more than once, which makes him a good pick no matter the format.

Furyk should be back after missing most of 2004 due to wrist surgery as he played well late in the season.

For most of the year everyone was talking about the consistency of Furyk. After all early on he had a streak of six Top Ten finishes in a row, and eight of 10 to start the year. He then went on to dominate at the US Open. Furyk had a tremendous year. Look for much the same in 2004, Furyk will be in the hunt many times, but he must win more than twice to improve much on last year's number.