Jim Furyk does it HIS way - and

leads Chevron Challenge by two

It's not only Jim Furyk's swing that is unconventional. What about his self-imposed "close season?"
Furyk shot a four-under-par 68 on a cold day - by California standards - and a wet course, by anyone's standards - to lead the select field of 16 players by two strokes from K J Choi and Book Weekley in the Chevron World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, without his controversial caddie, at Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks.
The Chevron event is the only competitive golf Furyk will be playing during a four-month lay-off and he surprised himself by how well he played (which suggests no-one is going to hold that Tiger when HE returns to action).
Furyk has not played a card-and-pencil round since winning the US PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on October 15. After this week, he won't play again until beginning his 2009 season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
"The goal was obviously to come in and play well and try to win the golf tournament," Furyk said, "but as little as I've been playing, I wanted to just kind of get my feet wet and little by little, chip away and try to put a good round together."
Furyk was the only player to break 70 and he did it without birdieing any of the five par-5s.
He was the only man to birdie the tough 18th, which doubled his lead over Weekley and Choi.
Weekley was ran into trouble on the par-5 16th, where he hit a fairway metal wood for his fourth shot and escaped with bogey.
Choi's putting was the highlight of his game. He is working with a new caddie -- Michael "Sponge" Waite, who worked for Michael Campbell when the New Zealander won the US Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Choi plans to use two caddies next year as his regular bagman, Englishman Andy Prodger, takes time off.
Canadian left hander Mike Weir played very well for 16 of the holes. But a triple bogey 6 at the short eighth and a quadruple bogey 8 at the next relegated him to the bottom of the heap on 78 alongside another Canadian, Stephen Ames.
Ryder Cup teammates Steve Stricker, Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan were among those at 71, with Kim the most thrilled. He hasn't played since he was disqualified from the second round of the HSBC Champions in China in early November.
"I think we'll see more 64s and 65s as this tournament - and the players - warm up," said Furyk. "That said, my best round is always in the first round."
Furyk didn't play golf for six weeks except for the odd corporate outing, spending most of his time going to Ohio State University and Pittsburgh Steelers American football games and coaching his five-year-old son's basketball team.
He tried to work his game into shape for this tournament, even with another big break on the other side.
"To just come out here and slap it around and shoot 78 every day and collect a cheque at the end of the week, isn't fair to the sponsor and it's not fair to the tournament," said Furyk.
ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
68 J Furyk.
70 K J Choi, B Weekley.
71 A Kim, H Mahan, V J Singh, S Striker.
72 B Curtis.
73 F Couples, L Donald, K Perry.
74 P Casey, C Villegas.
75 J Leonard.
78 S Ames, M Weir.