Jim Furyk was No. 7 in the world, No. 9 in the FedEx Cup standings and already assured a spot on the Presidents Cup team when he tied for fourth in the Deutsche Bank Championship for his seventh top 10 of the year.
That was Sept. 6, and that was the last tournament he finished.
Furyk withdrew midway through the opening round at Conway Farms a week later with a sore wrist, which has caused more problems than he imagined. He sat out the rest of the year to let it heal, and then missed Kapalua to give it more time.
The next solution is surgery.
Furyk didn't say when the surgery was planned but that he would be out three months.
"While I am disappointed that the wrist has not healed sufficiently for me to return to play, I am confident that the surgery at this point is the best course of action, and will get me back in the shortest possible time," he said in a statement. "This has been frustrating for me to this point, but I am focusing on an aggressive rehabilitation program and having a strong year once I am sufficiently healed."
Three months would mean missing the Masters for the first time since 2004, when he missed three months from surgery on his left wrist to repair torn cartilage.
Even though his world ranking average has dropped from 7.21 to 4.99, he has slipped only three spots to No. 10.
Family matters
Padraig Harrington's brother-in-law, Ronan Flood, has been his caddie for close to a decade.
There is a difference between employee and relative.
"When we finish work ... 6 o'clock is the cutoff time," Harrington said. "I would never ask him to do something outside the golf course that I wouldn't expect him to ask me to do. Come evening time, there's no, 'Go get me this.'"
Harrington and Flood have done well together, and that goes for off the course. The Irishman believes the social life is as important as the work ethic, particularly for young Europeans coming over to America early in their career.
"You can't sit in your room at night," he said. "You go out. The biggest factor to Europeans coming here is how their social life goes. Because if they're comfortable off the golf course, they'll be comfortable on it."
Circus act
Colin Kaepernick apparently wants out with the San Francisco 49ers to play for the New York Jets.
Wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "This is like an elephant trying to abandon Barnum & Bailey's for Ringling Brothers."
Free stuff
From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times:
Florida State, in honor of freshman guard Dwayne Bacon, handed out free bacon to students at Saturday's basketball game against Clemson.
If this starts a trend, look for some interesting giveaways at:
• Maryland (center Diamond Stone)
• Incarnate Word (forward Simi Socks)
• Lamar (guard Kevin Booze)
Sports quiz
What Pac-12 university did Jim Furyk attend?
Sports answer
Arizona
Sports on 02/04/2016