For Fred Funk, a 1985 trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a stop on the old Tournament Players Series was just one more to a distant outpost on a professional golfer’s lonely frontier.
Fred FunkIt was a scratch-and-claw existence back then for Funk, a third-year golf coach at the University of Maryland who had been moonlighting as a pro golfer since 1981. But this weekend would prove to be life-changing.
On the plane, Funk sat next to Woody FitzHugh, a fellow golfer, also Hattiesburg-bound. Both men lived in the greater Washington, D.C., area – FitzHugh owned a golf range in Leesburg, Va., about 30 miles from the Maryland campus – and the two met previously at the Mid-Atlantic Open, a regional tournament.
FitzHugh, a Christian, lived Funk’s dream for three seasons, playing on the PGA Tour 1980-82 before returning to the minor leagues.
Funk noticed FitzHugh reading a Bible, and the two struck up a conversation. The Holy Spirit continued working on Funk that week through a Christian host family in Hattiesburg. Soon, he placed his faith in Christ.
Four years later, Funk finally earned his PGA Tour card, launching one of the more remarkable success stories in golf, a career that has netted him more than $24 million in prize money.
“He’s an amazing athlete,” FitzHugh said. “I don’t know how you get better in your 50s. I’m getting worse.”
Funk apparently is at a career crossroads.
Last fall, at the end of his third season straddling both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, the 52-year-old Ponte Vedra resident proclaimed his desire to play exclusively on the main tour this season.
Many consider it a bold declaration, considering his chronic ailment that would quickly drive many of his peers to the 50-and-over senior circuit where the tournaments are shorter, the competition is lighter and the paychecks are still handsome. But Funk believes he still can be successful on the PGA Tour – if he can just get his bum right knee to hold up.
In November 2007, an MRI exam revealed two cartilage tears in the knee. Funk said he hoped to make it through last season without surgery, but after a strong start, including a win at the MasterCard Championship (Champions Tour) in January 2008, he was forced to undergo knee surgery May 14.
When he returned to action in June, Funk struggled on the PGA Tour but enjoyed a remarkable run on the senior circuit. He finished runner-up at the U.S. Senior Open Aug. 3 and then won his fourth Champions Tour title – and first major on either tour – two weeks later at the JELD-WEN Tradition. He finished the Champions Tour season by recording six top-10 finishes.
Then the aches returned.
On Dec. 13, he dropped out of the Merrill Lynch Shootout and soon learned he had a serious staph infection in his knee. He returned to competition in mid-February at the ACE Group Classic, a Champions event in Naples, where he finished tied for 24th.
It was one of the longest, toughest periods of idleness in Funk’s career.
But his physical trials have provided spiritual benefits.
“It’s something that has caused Fred to grow closer to the Lord,” said PGA Tour chaplain Larry Moody. “He’s trying to read through the Bible in 90 days. Most people do it in a year. But he’s trying to bite that off, and I think he’s doing well.”
His recent injuries notwithstanding, Funk has always been a physical marvel. Few other golfers who are 5 feet, 8 inches, 165 pounds and lacking great length off the tee can claim his composite success.
After earning his tour card in 1989, at age 33, Funk now boasts 12 career victories, including eight on the PGA Tour. In 2005, at 48, he became the oldest player ever to win The Players Championship.
“He has a great work ethic,” FitzHugh said. “He’s a determined guy.”
And perhaps it’s his determination that has led Funk to be more outgoing about his Christian life.
Funk is the first to admit Scripture memorization doesn’t come easily and only a few years ago said he felt comfortable sharing his faith.
But he’s making a difference. He considers Moody, who joined Funk and his wife Sharon in marriage, a mentor, and attends Moody’s weekly Bible study. And he leans heavily on his wife for spiritual support.
“I’m just learning more,” Funk said of his faith. “My wife is really strong, in more ways than one. She pushes [spiritually]. And with our kids, we’re pushing it. I’m just trying to make it a natural process.”
In recent years, Funk has shared his testimony at large Fellowship of Christian Athletes events. He often takes the stage with Champions Tour cronies like Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, Larry Mize and Loren Roberts.
Jim Esary, FCA Golf’s executive director, counts Funk as one of his favorite speakers.
“He’s the most personable and has the best personality,” Esary said. “He’s one of the best interviews because he’s such a people guy and so genuine.”
Funk puts his faith into action. In 2005, he met Jacksonville resident J.T. Townsend, a quadriplegic who suffered a spinal cord injury while playing high school football in 2004. Through personal donations and other charitable efforts, Funk helped raise approximately $400,000 for Townsend, and Funk and his wife had an ongoing relationship with the family as well.
“We’ve been praying for an angel to come into our lives, and Fred appeared,” J.T.’s mother, Carmen, told the Florida Times-Union in 2006. “He could have just greeted J.T. [during his first visit] and left.”
Now, this rickety-kneed angel has a major career decision to make.
With his 2005 Players Championship win, Funk is eligible on the PGA Tour through 2010.
“He’s got the fire, the competitive spirit that dwindles in some people after they hit 50,” Esary said of Funk. “But his fire is still burning bright.”