Pittsburgh fan Furyk hopes to 'Steel' win in Hawaii

"It's flattering to have been called," he said. "I guess it's too bad I won last year. I would have enjoyed (attending the game) immensely."

Furyk once was known mainly for what some would say is the ugliest swing in golf. Rather than draw a club back around his shoulders, he picks it straight up, as if preparing to drive a nail into a block of wood.

But as they say, in golf it ain't how, it's how many. Furyk won a U.S. Open in 2003, nearly won others in 2006 and 2007 -- the latter at Oakmont near Pittsburgh -- and now nobody pays much attention to his swing, only his production.

Which wasn't very good at Kapalua of late.

"I'd say I did a bad job of preparing the last couple of years," Furyk explained. "I was too busy preparing my game for the season and thinking about my swing and different things. This golf course is a lot of different shots. You don't particularly have to hit the ball great to score here, you've just got to be able to hit the right shots."

Because of the grain in the Bermuda greens and the tradewinds that sweep across Kapalua, many of the pros worry that a week here, even with no cut and certain money, might cause them to lose their swings. Furyk laughed when he heard that.

"I think this time of the year," he said, "most guys are trying to find their swings rather than losing them."