Fred Funk

Started to play golf at about age 10, picking up the game on his own. By 14 he knew he wanted to play on the PGA Tour. He tried for his Tour card in 1984, 1985 and 1986 with little success, and his dream of playing on the Tour suffered a serious setback when he tore a rotator cuff in 1987. He became the golf coach at the University of Maryland and was successfully competing as a PGA Club Professional, winning the 1984 FootJoy National Assistants Championship and the Maryland State Open in 1984 and 1987.
In 1988, he finally succeeded at Qualifying School, and then succeeded again the next year. In the 1990 season, had three top-10 finishes, and continued to improve, winning for the first time in 1992 at the Houston Open. Led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2003. Between 1990 and the end of the 2006 season, he played in 534 PGA Tour events, more than any other player in that time period.
In 2007, found success on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. Became just the second Champions Tour player (the first was Craig Stadler) to win an event on the Champions Tour and PGA Tour in the same season; at 50 years old he had his eighth PGA Tour victory at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico and won the Champions Tour's Turtle Bay Championship that year.
In 2008, was plagued by knee problems through much of the year, and he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in mid-May before returning to action in early June. At the end of 2008, he suffered a staph infection in his right knee, which forced his 2009 season to start late.
Won the 2009 U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick when he blew away the field, winning by six shots. Fired a bogey-free 7-under par 65 on Sunday to win the title, the largest victory margin in the championship since 1987. Victory occurred after he lost two Champions Tour events in playoffs at The Principal Charity Classic and Senior Open Championship.
Won the Champions Tour's 2010 JELD-WEN Tradition, defending his 2009 JELD-WEN title. At the end of 2010, he underwent a clean-up procedure on his right knee.
2011 Notes: His season was cut short by injuries, with his last start coming in late July at the U.S. Senior Open. Days later, he underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb at the Cleveland Clinic. Three days later, he had surgery in Jacksonville, Fla., to repair scar tissue in his right knee. Regardless, he had four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up at the ACE Group Classic in Naples.
2012 Notes: Won multiple Champions Tour titles, finishing fourth on the money list and claiming the fifth spot in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race, along with its $100,000 annuity. Birdied four of the last five holes to win the Insperity Championship and became the first player since Tom Watson, in the 2007 Senior Open Championship at Muirfield (Scotland), to win a PGA Tour and Champions Tour event at the same venue, the Tournament Course at The Woodlands C.C. in Houston, Texas. Five months later, he won the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn.
2013 Notes: Battled through a case of vertigo during the year, but still played in 24 events and had three top-three finishes. He and his teammate, Mike Goodes, finished T-2nd at the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf. Was the only player to record four consecutive par-or-better scores at the U.S. Senior Open, but still finished second, five strokes behind the winner, Kenny Perry, at Omaha (Neb.) C.C. It marked his second consecutive runner-up finish in the event and along with his victory in 2009 and a runner-up finish in 2008, he has finished either first or second four times in the last six years. Late in the year, he closed with a 67 to finish T-3rd at the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, Texas and ended the season 15th in the money race.
2014 Notes: Turned in six of his eight top-10 performances on the season starting in early June when he teamed with Jeff Sluman to win the Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf. In September, he nearly won a second when he battled Scott Dunlap and eventual winner Paul Goydos throughout the final round at the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship before finishing T-2nd, one shot back. He finished 38th on the money list and 35th in the Schwab Rankings.
2015 Notes: Closing with a 66 at the Allianz Championship, including an eagle on the last hole, he finished T-3rd. He finished T-9th at the Regions Tradition and T-6th at the Encompass Championship. Was 33rd on the money list and 37th in the Schwab rankings.
2016 Notes: Started the year T-11th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, had a total of 5 top-tens but the first didn't come until June with a T-8th at the American Family Insurance. Also had top-tens, T-6th Boeing Classic, T-10th Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship, T-5th at the Toshiba Classic and 5th Dominion Charity. Was 31st on the money list and 29th on the Schwab Rankings.
2017 Notes: Played another full schedule with 25 starts and surpassed $12 million in PGA Tour Champions career earnings. Was T-4th at the Regions Tradition, T-6th at the Allianz Championship, T-3rd at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. Partnered with Jeff Sluman to finish T-2nd at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf, one shot behind eventual champions Carlos Franco and Vijay Singh. T-6th at the Constellation Senior Players and T-5th at the PowerShares QQQ. Was 27th on the money list and then 34th in Schwab Ranking. The year was very good concerning he had a lot of downtime due to a rib injury. Since turning 50, Funk estimates he's had 13 surgeries - seven on his right knee after a total replacement in 2009 and staph infection problems. He also has a fused thumb that kept him sidelined for about a year and has endured shoulder and elbow trouble.
2018 Notes: Played in 13 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-ten finish. 3rd at Boca Raton Championship. Funk withdrew several times during the season due to a sore back. In July had back surgery and after getting back on his feet had torn hamstrings.
2019 Notes: Played in 14 PGA Tour Champions events with one top25 finish. Was 91st on the final Schwab rankings. Returned after his surgery and hamstring problems, the latter has been his big problem. His first start was at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf. He finished T-22nd with Dana Quigley. Best individual finish, T-27th at the MasterCard Japan Championship.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Was T-14th at the Ally Challenge, six shots back of winner Jim Furyk. In 2021 his best finish was T-30th at 2021 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.