(IRVING, Texas) - A month ago, Jason Dufner was a single man still in search of his first PGA TOUR victory.
Life has certainly changed for the 35-year-old Dufner who last summer at the PGA Championship blew a four-stroke lead with four holes to play and lost in a playoff.
With a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday, Dufner closed out a one-stroke victory over Dicky Pride to win for the second time in four weeks.
(IRVING, Texas) - Jason Dufner's 1-under par 69 was enough to keep a one-stroke lead Saturday heading into the final round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Unfazed by more breezy conditions, Dufner is now 8-under 202 with a one-stroke lead over Jason Day, J.J. Henry and Dicky Pride.
"Similar conditions…Read More »
(IRVING, Texas) - Standing over his ball in a swale behind the 18th green, Jason Dufner would have been content with a par and a spot in the big group tied for the lead in the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Instead, Dufner had the lead to himself Friday. He finished by chipping in from 37 feet, his fourth birdie in five holes, after driving wide right and having his approach roll over the green.
"No, that wasn't in the thought process," Dufner said. "Pretty lucky for it to go in, but that's part of golf. Sometimes you get those breaks."
His second long chip-in wrapped up a 4-under 66 for a two-round total of 7-under 133.…Read More »
(IRVING, Texas) - Ryan Palmer shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the the HP Byron Nelson Championship, a year after losing a playoff to Keegan Bradley in this same event.
Last year, Palmer birdied the 72nd hole to force the playoff. Palmer then hit his approach into the greenside water to hand Bradley his first TOUR title.
"I didn't lose it last year by any means," Palmer said. "But to get back in the same setting with the same people watching, here where I live, and just to have that feeling again, this time be the guy standing with the trophy, that's been my focus."
Palmer's bogey-free start came…Read More »
Remember me?
Amidst an early PGA TOUR season filled with young upstarts, first-time winners and the ongoing "process" of Tiger Woods it seems as though one player has gone unnoticed: Phil Mickelson.
Despite being elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame last week (oddly, with a third of his career left to play), Mickelson hasn't really garned a lot of headlines this year. He has a win (at Pebble Beach), a playoff loss (at Riviera) and two other top-10s to his credit. For any other player, that type of record would equal a strong storyline for the TOUR. Interestingly, that hasn't been the case for Phil.
But that changes this week.
Mickelson headlines the field at the HP Byron Nelson in Irving, Texas while a large majority of the other big names are taking the week off. Indeed, only one other player from the top 10 of the World Golf Ranking is slated to play this week - newly-minted PLAYERS champion Matt Kuchar. There are, however, a few other familiar names to discuss.
…Read More »
(PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida) - The only complaint about Matt Kuchar was not winning enough. He picked up a big one Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship. Kuchar avoided the big mistakes that slowed so many other contenders -- starting with Kevin Na -- and kept it out of the water on TPC Sawgrass to eliminate the kind of drama he didn't need. He closed with a 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory. That famous smile, which he first showed the golf world as an amateur in 1998 competing on the biggest stages, was brighter than ever as Kuchar tapped in for par. He celebrated on the 18th green with his wife and two sons, and shared a hug and a high-five with his mother. His parents moved to Ponte Vedra Beach and Kuchar stayed with them all week. Coming off the green, he said he was "about to buckle" after such a week. Just like his golf on a dangerous Stadium Course, he kept it together. "It's…Read More »
(PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida) - Kevin Na is slow to pull the trigger, and quick to make fun of himself. In what made for painful viewing Saturday in THE PLAYERS Championship -- for fans at TPC Sawgrass and those watching from home -- Na took hundreds of waggles as he set up over the ball, backed off the shot if he didn't feel comfortable and a couple of times purposely missed so he could start over. The only number that mattered was a 4-under 68, one of only three bogey-free rounds on a dangerous golf course. Backing off only once in the 18th fairway, he hit his approach to 15 feet for birdie and took a one-shot lead over Matt Kuchar (69) going into the final round. "There's so much on the line that I just have to sometimes back off," Na said. "Or I'll force myself to take it back, and on the way down I'll pull up and go over the top (of the ball). As ugly as…Read More »
(PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida) - THE PLAYERS Championship still lacks some definition going into the weekend. At least it still has one of golf's star attractions. In what looks to be a neighborhood block party, Sea Island, Ga., residents Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson steered clear of trouble Friday and shared the 36-hole lead with Kevin Na. They had a one-shot lead over Harris English, a PGA TOUR rookie who also lives 100 miles to the north at Sea Island. The attention shifted to Tiger Woods, who with one burst of birdies went from a guy struggling to make the cut to being on the periphery of contention. Woods missed the cut last week at Quail Hollow and has never missed consecutive cuts in his career. He said the thought never crossed his mind. "I was trying to shoot my number today," Woods said after a 4-under 68, ending a streak of nine straight rounds without shooting in the 60s. "Sixty-six was my number today. I figured that would have…Read More »
(PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida) - Ian Poulter is enjoying his new digs -- his newly built home and his spot atop the leaderboard Thursday in THE PLAYERS Championship.
Poulter, finally finished with a house at Lake Nona that took nearly three years to build, ran off four birdies around the turn and birdied all the par 5s at TPC Sawgrass for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with Martin Laird.
Laird,…Read More »
A quick check of the schedule shows that it's time for the PGA TOUR's unofficial fifth major this week: the PLAYERS Championship. The course has become famous for the island green 17th hole, and rightly so. There may not be a more recognizable hole in all of golf. And though it would be considered a short par 3 by almost any player's standards, the professionals can attest to the fact that, yard for yard, the 17th at TPC Sawgrass is the most risky hole they face. The tournament originated in 1974 and was held at a handful of other sites before settling at the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course in 1982. Past champions include 3-time winner Jack Nicklaus, 2-time champs Fred Couples and Davis Love III, LeeTrevino, Tom Kite, Greg Norman and Nick Price. In recent years, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia have all hoisted the PLAYERS Championship trophy. Interestingly, despite his illustrious career, Tiger Woods has won the event only once. It's no secret that Tiger wouldn't…Read More »
