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By Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- At 5-foot-8, Fred Funk isn't a big guy. In fact, his bright blue eyes are the most striking feature about him. When dressed in a grey t-shirt and green workout shorts while preparing to do stretches on his injury-plagued back, Funk is the type you'd probably pass right by and not realize he was an eight-time PGA TOUR winner.

Fred Funk won on the Champions Tour in January and on the regular TOUR in March. (Getty Images)

Nor will Funk be usurping Bubba Watson or Tom Purtzer in their respective spots as the longest hitters on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour anytime soon, though in the higher altitude at Crosswater Golf Club in Sunriver, Ore., for the JELD-WEN Tradition this week he might tack a few more yards onto his drives.

And, though blessed with a youthful air and an uncanny ability to play better as he ages -- it's "ironic," Funk says, "I've gotten better since age 45" -- Funk's certainly not the youngest on the PGA TOUR and isn't even the youngest on the Champions Tour anymore.

But all that is what makes him a fan favorite. Funk is an average guy with an average background who just so happens to be having better-than-average yet, as he views it, "disappointing" season.

First for the better-than-average part -- the 51-year-old won in late February at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Rivera-Maya Cancun and has maintained a spot in the top-144 on the FedExCup points list on the PGA TOUR, which means he will participate in the inaugural PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup beginning next week. With a front row seat to watch the first Playoffs unfold, he's curious to see how it all works out.

"I'm in a position to play the first two [Playoff] events and the third is up in the air," said Funk, the former University of Maryland golf coach who didn't debut on the PGA TOUR until 1989. "Now that we're here, we're still trying to figure out how it's going to play out. I hope it identifies the proper guy, the one who has really had the best year. It's hard to argue that Tiger hasn't, but it will be interesting to see how it unfolds ... one guy could have had a mediocre season but play well enough to stage a huge upset. We'll have to wait and see."

Though he adopted a "where they fit, they fit" policy this year of only playing those Champions Tour events that fit into his schedule -- which so far has been just four -- Funk is also currently in the top-30 on the Champions Tour money list thanks to a win at the Turtle Bay Championship and two other top-10s.

If the Charles Schwab Cup Championship were played today, Funk would have a spot in the season-ending tournament since he currently sits in the top-30 on the money list. Making it to Sonoma, Calif., is a goal for Funk this season, though he knows that will be tough since he expects to play in only two more Champions Tour events - the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship in his home state of Maryland and the AT&T Championship, where Funk is the defending champion.

But Funk knows all too well that goals are hard to come by, since he set his sights on making the Presidents Cup team this year but fell short this past week.

"That was my one big goal, to make the Presidents Cup team," he said. "I got off to a great start but got slammed with my back injury then had to try to rescue my season."

That's the reason Funk refers to his year of multiple Tour wins with adjectives like "frustrating" and "disappointing." It's made him think about "what ifs" and "what might have beens," as his stellar season was torn apart by a back injury -- his first brush with a serious ailment -- that caused him to play poorly right when things were starting to click at the start of the year. His putting woes from 2006 had been fixed, his mental game was sharp and his golf was good enough to give both Tours fits when he hurt his back on Saturday at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

"It's been a frustrating year,' Funk said. "I was playing solid and putting good, my mind was good then I hurt my back. ... That brought a lot of, for lack of a better word, issues for me and I tried to play through it but that led to the formation of bad habits."

When Funk injured his back at the tournament in Mexico, spot-on putting helped him play through the pain and win the tournament. After that, his season went on a roller coaster ride, as he eventually recovered for a five-week stretch only to injury himself again at the AT&T National.

He still tried to work through the pain, but it got so bad at the PGA Championship on Thursday that he nearly withdrew from the tournament and gave up golf for the year. But he found a light at the end of the tunnel on Thursday night in Tulsa when he saw his golf swing on video for the first time and realized that his injury had forced him to stand straight up over the ball, which was naturally causing problems with his swing.

"I feel like I'm heading in the right direction now," said Funk, who credits fixing his stance and correcting bad habits with giving him new hope. He's also playing nearly pain free this week, something he hasn't done in quite some time, after visiting a chiropractor in Oregon who worked wonders on his back.

"I'm excited about being here," Funk added, noting that he will play with Peter Jacobsen and D.A. Weibring in the first round. "They are both class acts. It's an honor -- I look up to both of them, I look up to everyone out here. I wouldn't say that I'm in awe, but I really respect how they handle themselves."

It helps that Funk doesn't have excessively high hopes heaped on him each week on the Champions Tour this year. When he debuted in 2006, Funk was considered the favorite each time he teed up, but now Jay Haas, Loren Roberts, Brad Bryant and others are winning often and making statements as regulars on the Champions Tour, while Funk continues to concentrate on the PGA TOUR and expects to do the same in 2008.

"It was different for me to have such high expectations on me. I've never really been favored. I was always a consistent player but was under the radar," said Funk.

Now that he can play with a little less pressure, Funk gets to be himself on the golf course. Which includes being just an average guy.