Tag Archives: Jason Dufner

Couples Channeling 1992 With Share of Masters Lead

by Scott

Getty Images

There was a little Masters Magic in the air on Friday, and Fred Couples played the role of David Copperfield en route to a tidy little 5-under 67. Freddie had only 2 bogeys on the day to go along with 7 birdies, and that leaves me with only one assumption: the back must be feeling pretty good! We’ve seen this before, only to watch him struggle one of the rounds on the weekend. But could Fred Couples become the oldest major champion ever on the 20 year anniversary of his win here back in 1992? Seriously? “Well, that’s a great question. I mean, I think I surprise a few people, but myself, I mean, if I get going and I feel strong and drive it, the course is much longer than it was in ’92 when I won, but I still feel like I can compete here and play, and that was my main goal when I came here. People ask, can you win, and I want to compete,” Couples said. “If I would have shot 71 today and was 1‑under, I’d feel like I would be competing. By the time I’m finished at 5‑under, right now tied for the lead, I’m doing more than that. But there’s 10 more hours of golf out there at the pace we’re playing, exactly 10 more hours of golf, so I’ve got a lot more to look forward to. But it’s something that will be a lot of fun.”

Speaking of fun… Jason Dufner seldom looks like he’s having much fun, but maybe that’s because he’s all business about picking up his first career win this week, and what a win it would be… Dufner followed up his 3-under 69 on Thursday with a 2-under 70 in his round on Friday, and finds himself sharing the lead and playing with Old Man Couples heading into the weekend at the Masters. We all know that Freddie doesn’t mind a little conversation from time to time, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be a chatterbox with the ever stoic Dufner on Saturday. Dufner just seems to be a man in his own world while out on the course, so it’ll be interesting to note how the chemistry of their pairing plays out. But don’t expect Dufner to get out of his game face and play Mr. Social, he’s as emotionless as it comes. “I don’t really think about it to be honest with you. I’m just playing a round of golf. I know the situation and I’m playing a major, I’m playing at Augusta in the Masters. As a player, I know everything that’s going on,” he said. “At times I know I that I am leading or behind or whatever it might be in that situation. I’m just trying to have a nice round of golf, play well, commit to my shots and let the rest take care of itself.” 

Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy won’t be paired together tomorrow despite being tied at 4-under, but both go into Saturday knowing that a good round by each of them could very well offer a head-to-head repeat scenario that we saw earlier this year at the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship. Westwood played carefully in the tough windy conditions on Friday, not getting into red numbers on the day until a birdie on the par5 15th got him to 1-under. But he lost his way on the 18th, after coming up short on his approach and then 3-putting for a double bogey to finish at 1-over 73. But while Westwood methodically plotted his way around Augusta to a 1-over round, Rory McIlroy looked much more comfortable on Friday than he did a day earlier. McIlroy picked up 3 birdies on his opening 9, making the turn at 3-under 33. He would give one back at the 10th, but got back on track with birdies at the par5′s 13th and 15th. He would go on to make bogey on the 17th, but finished with a par and a 3-under 69. Afterward, McIlroy talked about the significance of his birdie-birdie finish on Thursday to get the stage set for his good round on Friday. “You know, just from the get‑go this morning, I think the two birdies helped last night, put me in a positive frame of mind going into today and from the get‑go hit the ball a lot better,” McIlroy said. “Had a great drive up 1 and sort of went from there and hit the ball in the fairway a lot more and was able to attack the pins. I ended up shooting 69, which I thought was a good score today in these conditions.” What does he think about a 52-year old Fred Couples leading the charge into the weekend? “He’s just cool. (Laughing). I hope I’m that cool when I’m 52, or whatever he is,” he said. “Yeah, he’s just a cool guy. And he’s good fun. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit over the last couple of years, and you know, he’s laid back and relaxed and just a really nice guy.” Beware of the nice guys, young Rory. Be very aware. Freddie might be old enough to be your father, but he can still hang with the pups.

And finally, there was Lefty and Tiger. One of them made a charge on Friday, while the other fizzled like a wet bottle rocket. Hint: it wasn’t the southpaw. After his struggles on Thursday, Tiger Woods said that he was stuck between Haney’s old swing and Sean Foley’s new swing. On Friday, he looked like he was stuck between Herman Monster’s swing and Charles Barkley’s. And it just wasn’t the swing, but the bad vibes emanating from the old flatstick again as well. Not many players could make that big of a mess in a round at Augusta and shoot 3-over 75, as there have been far prettier 3-over 75′s posted this week. But for a guy who was favored to win coming into this week and trying to prove that Jack’s record is no longer safe again – he certainly hasn’t answered the door the first two days. Or let me put it this way: The Old Tiger wouldn’t be talking in terms familiar with little league baseball. “Well, that’s one of the neat things about this tournament is the ten‑shot rule. Anybody can still win the golf tournament if they make the cut,” Tiger said. “Guys have won this tournament from five and six back going into the back nine. I just need to cut that down a little bit tomorrow, play a good, solid round and cut that deficit down and get off to a quick start again on Sunday like I did last year.” A good round at this point for Tiger would be even-par, which would still likely find him at least 6-7 shots back heading into Sunday. Of course, he could decide to stop playing golf swing and start playing golf again, but then that would mean that he’d ultimately end up reverting back to “old patterns.” Old patterns, mind you, that won 14 major championships….

While Woods was busy playing Shamus McDuff on Friday, Phil Mickelson pieced together a round of golf that actually put him right back into the tournament. Lefty made the turn at 1-under 35, and then found his stride midway through the back-nine by birdieing 4 of his last 7 holes. His 4-under 68 on Friday puts him only 3 shots back of Freddie and Dufner heading into Saturday, and is ecstatic about his rebound from a tough opening round of 2-over 74 on Thursday. “Are you kidding me? After yesterday’s round I love it. To be only three back with 36 to go, there’s a lot of time left and there’s a lot of birdies out there and I get to slide off before the leaders,” Mickelson said. “If I make a move, they get to see those numbers being posted ahead of them, and that’s not always easy.” But despite his renewed spirit, Mickelson understands that the term “moving day” has never been more meaningful than a Saturday at Augusta. “I feel like Saturday is the day you can really make a move. Sunday you kind of cherish the back nine and it’s exciting, but I feel like Saturday is the day you have got to play well to get yourself in position,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a critical day. It will be a critical day to get myself in a spot where I don’t have to make up too much ground from the leaders.”

The tournament is far from over, as there are approximately 15 other guys within 3 shots of the lead. A big factor for Saturday will once again be with the wind, especially as the course dries out and the greens get a little firmer. On Friday, a 5-under 67 was certainly doable as Couples showed, but on Saturday with the firmer conditions and the tougher hole locations? Anything sub-70 will likely be a great score. Patience has always been a big part of the winning ingredient at Augusta, and it’ll be a necessity heading into the weekend for those hoping to prevail, even for the cool, distinguished over-50 types.

Go get ‘em, Freddie.

For a full recap of Friday’s action at the Masters, click HERE.

 

 

Friday at Bay Hill: Woods Shoots 65, Tied for Lead

by Scott

Fred Vuich / SI

After his round Thursday, Tiger said something that you would typically expect someone to say who’s won this tournament half a dozen times: “This course just fits my eye.” Of course, Woods claimed that he left some shots out there in his opening round but still managed 3-under 69. On Friday, he finds himself in familiar territory at Bay Hill – on top of the leaderboard – thanks to a flashy 7-under 65 that he claimed afterward could’ve been even lower. Woods began his 2nd round with 3 consecutive pars, before making a 7 footer for his first birdie on the day on the par5 4th. It would be a sign of things to come. He dialed in his approach on the very next hole to within 11 feet, making another birdie, and would also go on to birdie the next two holes to go out in 4-under 32. Another birdie came at the par5 12th after reaching the green in two. One of the popular Tiger soundbites that’s making the rounds this season has been, “My misses are much better.” Indeed they are. After piping a 300+ yard tee shot on the par5 16th, Woods only had 199 yards into the green for his 2nd shot, a definite green-light special. Within milliseconds of the ball leaving the club on his 2nd shot, he turned away in disgust and took a swipe at what was left of the divot left behind. This time last year we would’ve expected to see his ball bounding into a hazard after displaying such emotion, but a year later – it was safely on the green.  He 2-putted for his 6th birdie on the day, and would back it up with a phenomenal mid-iron to within 15 feet on the 220-yard par3 17th, getting to 7-under. He nearly drained a 23-footer for birdie on the final hole, the most difficult hole of the tournament thus far, but two spike marks just a few feet from the cup took it off line just enough to miss.

But with a 2nd round score of 7-under 65 giving him a share of the lead heading into the weekend, Woods is looking more and more like the player who used to own the place, and starting to sound a little more like him too. “It was a solid round of golf, (but) I felt like I actually hit it better yesterday than I did today,” he said. “I made more putts today for sure. I felt great over the putter, my speed was good. I left a couple putts dead short, right in the center of the hole. Actually it really could have been a really low round today. A lot of positives today.“

Woods shares the lead with Charlie Wi, who played cautiously for much of his round on Friday before kicking it in gear and birdieing 4 of the last 6 holes to post 4-under 68. “I played really well. You know, I didn’t hit the ball quite as well as I did yesterday, but I was able to shoot 4-under, very pleased,” Wi said. “My ball-striking has been pretty consistent. It’s just a matter of making putts. My pace has been really good.” Wi will be sharing the spotlight with Tiger on Saturday, both enjoying a 1-shot lead heading into the 3rd round.

Jason Dufner and Graeme McDowell are T2nd at 9-under, only a shot back of co-leaders Woods and Wi. Dufner shot 3-under 69 on Friday, despite playing the par5′s at even par on the day. The par5′s aside, Dufner’s game continues to display the confidence needed to get his first Tour win, which he’s gunning for this weekend. “The biggest thing is I’m just really comfortable with where my game is at right now. I think any given day, I can go out and shoot a 5- or 6-under and do it pretty comfortably,” Dufner said. “If the putter were to get hot, I feel like I could go shoot some lower scores. But I’m just really comfortable with how I’m striking the ball, my lines off the tees, my iron shots.” Maybe Dufner should get a few putting tips from Graeme McDowell, who was red-hot on Bay Hill’s greens on Friday. G-Mac picked up birdies on holes 4, 5, 7 and 8, making the turn at 4-under 32. He went on to make 3 birdies and an eagle on the par5 16th, shooting a remarkable 9-under 63 that was only one stroke shy of tying the course record. Coming off of a frustrating season of golf last year, McDowell finds himself liking what he sees in his golf game this season. “Yeah, I think it was probably this week last year that I kind of hit the panic button to be honest with you. I realized that something was wrong with me. I realized that something was wrong with the way I was preparing and the way I was thinking,” he said. “There’s no doubt, the difference is this year I’ve paced myself coming into a week like this. I’m playing the next three weeks now and I’m mentally and physically fresher than I’ve been for a long time.“

Notables

Justin Rose fired a 3-under 69 on Friday, 6-under for the tournament and in solo 5th.

Bubba Watson (70), Sergio Garcia (67), Vijay Singh (68), Chris Stroud (69), Webb Simpson (66), and Zach Johnson (68) are all tied for 6th at 5-under par.

For a full recap of Friday’s action at the 2012 Bay Hill Invitational, click HERE.

Bay Hill: Thursday This and That

by Scott

David Cannon / Getty Images

For a more thorough overview of Thursday’s action at Bay Hill, check out Doug Ferguson’s take HERE.

The Leaders

It most always comes down to not who’s hitting the ball the furthest (although that helps), but who’s doing more things right than wrong. After one round at Arnie’s Bay Hill Invitational, that would be Charlie Wi and Jason Dufner, as both are tied for the lead heading into Friday after 6-under 66 performances in their opening rounds. Wi began his day by reeling off 3 consecutive pars, but then went on to birdie three of his next four holes. He would give a shot back with bogey on the par4 8th, making the turn at 2-under 34. He kicked his back-nine off on a solid note by picking up another birdie on the par4 10th, and went on to birdie three of the closing 5 holes in his opening round to get to 6-under. Wi admitted that Bay Hill isn’t the type of course that lends him confidence, but he was surprised at how well he played on Thursday. “Since Pebble Beach, I’ve been playing okay, making cuts but not really — I haven’t had too many strong finishes and I’ve never really done well here,” he said. “If I had shot a couple under today before I teed off, I would have been very pleased, so to shoot 66 is a pleasant surprise.” Wi’s best finish this season was 2nd at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and is still looking for his first career PGA Tour win.

Another guy who is also still searching for his first career PGA Tour win is Jason Dufner, who matched Wi’s 6-under 66 with 5 birdies, an eagle, one bogey, and the rest pars in his opening round. Dufner has missed only 1 cut in 7 starts this season with 2 top-10′s, one of which came last week at the Transitions Championship where he finished T10. The Florida Swing has been a good stretch for Dufner, who admitted that he feels right at home with the Florida breeze and bermuda grasses. “(I) Played a lot of good golf throughout my career in South Florida, so I feel very comfortable down here. Obviously I’m playing some really nice golf,” said Dufner. “I’ve held the lead at Doral; held the lead last week through two rounds. This week, start off great. So I’m really happy with where my game is. Just looking to close a little bit better on the weekend and try to close one of these tournaments out and try to get a win.”

Tiger and Phil Grinding For Augusta

Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy took the week off, putting the focus this week on 2 players who have 7 Green Jackets combined – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Their opening rounds, however, couldn’t have been more different. Woods managed 4 birdies and a lone bogey in route to a 3-under 69, and continues showing significant improvement despite not getting a lot out of his round Thursday. “It was a day where I didn’t really do anything great today. I was just solid all day,” Woods said. “I drove the ball well. Hit my irons decent and putted all right. I had two 3-putts, but also made a couple bombs out there. It’s just one of those days where not a lot was going on.”

A lot was going on for Phil Mickelson, however. Lefty was 1-under going into his 9th hole of the day (the par4 18th) when he hit his tee shot out-of-bounds, leading to a double bogey. He would find trouble again 3 holes later, as he found the water on the par4 3rd and took another double. Mickelson would bounce back with a strong finish, birdieing 3 of his remaining 6 holes in the round, but his 1-over 73 on Thursday has become a familiar theme this season. “Heading into today, I had had a really good week ball-striking, one of the best weeks I’ve had. I felt so good with my game, and to shoot 1-over, I was disappointed,” he said. “It felt like something out of earlier this year, where I was playing very well and not shooting the number; to shoot a number that didn’t make sense.” He continued. “I’m going to try not to put too much into this first round because I’m putting phenomenal, and I’m really starting to strike the ball well. I just didn’t show that today. I made a couple loose swings.” With the afternoon scoring average nearing 2 shots higher than par, Mickelson’s 1-over 73 doesn’t put him too far behind to make it into the weekend. He joins a pack of about 20 players who also shot 1-over in their opening rounds on Thursday, all tied for 38th.

For all of the scores on Thursday, click HERE.

For a full recap of Thursday’s action at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational, click HERE.

Goosen, Furyk Tied for Lead at Transitions

by Scott

Associated Press

The story that will be written Sunday at Innisbrook has several different plots in the making.

Story #1: Jason Dufner is only 1 shot back of the lead and in a good spot to come from behind and get his first career PGA Tour win. This week marks his 160th official start as a PGA Tour player, and he could very well end his career drought Sunday, although he will need to play better than he did on Saturday as he could only manage an even-par round of 71. Dufner is well aware of what is at stake tomorrow, but attempted to play down the talk of a long overdue win. “You know, I don’t really think about being due or not due. I know I’ve been in this position a good bit,” he said. “I’d love to have some great breaks tomorrow and make some 50-footers or hole a 7-iron or something. Maybe that would equal everything out. You know, probably not going to happen. So I’m just focused on trying to play well like I did the first two days.” Dufner’s final-round scoring average this season is 70.75, ranked 77th overall. Not bad, but he’ll need to improve upon that Sunday if he wants a shot getting that first win.

Story #2: From the “Beware of the Wounded Golfer” files: On Wednesday, Retief Goosen’s lingering back problems became so bad that he had to officially withdrew from next week’s tournament at Bay Hill so he could get protein injection therapy for his ailing back next Wednesday. Things were not looking good. Then came Saturday, as he fired the low round of the day at Innisbrook, a 6-under 65 to take a share of the lead heading into the final round. Goosen’s last win, oddly enough, came at this very tournament back in 2009, and in his mind – he’ll need to do it again Sunday to remove any doubts about earning an invite to the Masters in three weeks. “Yeah, I mean, yesterday I set my mind out here, okay, Augusta is not going to be there; I finished poorly yesterday with a double on 16 and fell way back,” Goosen said. “So you sort of tell yourself, probably going to need to shoot low on the weekend to get into the top 5 to by the end of next week stay in the top-50 in the World Rankings, and then maybe be ready for Augusta. So I withdrew, and that made me more relaxed, that you know, this is my last week, my last chance is today and tomorrow. Maybe I’m fighting for that last spot in Augusta.”

Story #3: It could be a big week for the “5-hour Energy Drink” company, as they’ll also be able to market the potential to cure hangovers. Jim Furyk’s career-best 2010 season left a lot to be desired in 2011, his worst season ever on Tour, and the hangover effect hasn’t been easy to shake. Furyk managed only 4 top-10′s last season and missed 7 cuts, and missed his first cut this season at the Honda Classic two weeks ago. His best finish this year was at the Northern Trust Open last month where he finished T11. Furyk shot 5-under 66 in Saturday’s 3rd round to get to 11-under, and shares the lead with Goosen heading into Sunday. Afterward, Furyk spoke candidly about his dismal 2011 season and the impact it had on his confidence.

“Obviously I’m pissed off. I don’t want to play poorly. I haven’t played poorly for — actually I’ve never played like I played last year on Tour,” he said. “Maybe my rookie year but I was excited, I finished 78th on the Money List, I was excited, I had a card, I had a job, I was 23 years old, couldn’t have been happier, 24. Yeah, I was excited. So last year, yeah, you’re pissed off about the way you’re playing, but I think that I’m disappointed, I was upset, I was cranky on the golf course, I was harder on my caddie, I was harder on Mike last year than I’ve ever been,” Furyk continued. “I think I’m a pretty easy guy to work for and there were times last year where I wasn’t, and I realized — I tried not to take it home. I tried when I show up at the hotel room, I try to pretty much put golf behind me, because the kids don’t know any different. You’re still dad at home, whether you shoot 79 or 59. I tried not to take it home and hopefully I didn’t but sometimes it’s hard. But I think had it happened to me probably when I was 31, or 32, and I would have had a bad year there in the middle, I would have taken it a little harder. I lived and breathed my golf a little bit more at those times. And as I got older, other things in my life have become as they should, should have been when I was 31, but there’s other things in life more important and that’s my family and my kids. You put it in perspective, and I think now I’m able to kind of at the end of the day take a deep breath and instead of focusing on, I played poorly, the focus is on, OK, what are the next steps to start playing well. That’s really what I’ve been doing for the last few months. And I needed kind of the year last year to end to be honest with you. And I had to keep playing at the end of the year, because I didn’t have a very good year and I wanted to get the World Ranking up but I needed the time off, take a deep breath and refocus my goals and what I was trying to accomplish and how was I going to go about doing that, and that I needed some time to work on that. I had about eight weeks to kind of get away, to refocus, to think about what I wanted to work on and get to work. I feel like I have not had a lot of starts, and my results maybe probably don’t look good on paper but I feel good about the way I’m playing. I’ve been playing much better golf this year than I was last year.”

I hate to say I told you so, but this all goes back to something that I questioned near the start of last season when the TaylorMade equipment deal came knocking. Furyk, like many other players before him, couldn’t turn down a lucrative endorsement deal and another 10-15 yards off the tee. He even admitted as much Saturday evening in his post-round interview.

“I drove the ball pitiful last year. That’s probably the worst driving year I’ve had. And I don’t credit it all to putting. I putted poorly last year. I drove the ball poorly last year. That’s two of the three most important parts of the game. You’re not going to score well at that point,” he said. “So I switched drivers at the end of last year in December. Started working with a Callaway driver right before Chevron and enjoyed — I liked what I saw. Started working with a different golf ball with actually Phil, when I played with him at The Presidents Cup, started using his golf ball and really liked it. Basically what I was seeing was a combination of the two products, I was creating more spin on the golf ball, and I got away from that a little bit last year. The ball launched a little bit higher and had a little less spin; I could hit it far, but I’m not a high-spin guy and because I’m a guy that wants to hit a lot of shots, hit it right-to-left, left-to-right, hit it low, hit it high, and I need spin to do that and that’s how you control the golf ball.

“I had made some mistakes and in what I was doing with my equipment and I made mistakes fitting myself equipment that I could have done better. And it was a product of maybe trying to get a little bit longer, maybe trying to find new ways to improve and maybe then hurting my strengths, if that makes sense. Trying to make my weaknesses better but in doing so, hurting your strengths, which is rule No. 1. You don’t do that.”

Hopefully it hasn’t led him down the road to no return…. a good round tomorrow will certainly go a long way to restoring his confidence and putting his senseless equipment debacle behind him.

Story #4: Someone comes from 2-3 shots back, maybe even more, to win Sunday. Sang-Moon Bae is tied with Dufner for 2nd, only a shot back of the lead. Ken Duke and John Mallinger are tied for 5th and only 2 shots back at 9-under. Chez Reavie, Ernie Els, and Luke Donald are all tied for 7th, 3 shots back. If Donald can come from behind and win tomorrow, he’ll assume the top spot in the World Rankings again. Almost a dozen players are 4 shots back at 7-under, including the following notables who can obviously turn the tide: Sergio Garcia, David Toms, Webb Simpson, and Padraig Harrington. Chris DiMarco is in that pack, and although it would be unlikely – a win would certainly go a long way to reestablishing his career again. Any number of stories could unfold. Copperhead isn’t an easy course, and crazy things happen Sunday afternoon on the PGA Tour.

I’m expecting a great finish.

For a full recap of Saturday’s action at the 2012 Transitions Championship, click HERE.

 

Parting Shot: The Phoenix Open

by Scott

It’s worth nothing that the last time I watched the conclusion of a golf tournament finishing on a Monday was back in the fall with the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. Before that it was the 2008 US Open with Woods and Rocco going mano a mano. Before that…. can’t remember. It’s been that long.

But today I tuned in for the final 2 hours of what will forever more be remembered as the Phoenix Frostbite Open, wanting desperately to see a warm, fuzzy, mittens-wearing character with a homemade swing do the unthinkable…. hoping that an unemotional, meticulous tactician of an opponent wouldn’t be quite as predictable. But it wouldn’t work out that way in the end. Yeah – we saw yet another great finish this season, and the tactician would prevail to continue his journey of what has already been a remarkable season for him. Mark Wilson is playing the golf of his life, and it’s refreshing to note that strategy and percentage golf can still reap huge dividends in the bomb-and-gouge era that the game has become. But it also left me wanting to reach through the television to hug the lovable action figure known as Tommy Two Gloves. Almost, Tommy. Almost.

The fact of the matter is that success breeds success. Over the last 36 holes, Mark Wilson showed the same steady patience and focus that enabled him to close the deal back at the Sony Open earlier last month. Not a long hitter of the ball, but sneaky long for a player of his size and stature. And deadly straight, as you would expect of a player that has managed to win on this tour despite giving up nearly 1/3 of a football field in distance to some of the more prodigiously long hitters. But Wilson has shown tenacity where it matters most at this level – iron play and putting. He just doesn’t make mistakes when the heat is on. As impressive as his win was back at the Sony, this one just seemed all the more. And for all the right reasons…. not that his win back at the Sony needed any sort of validation, but if it did – he took care of that on Monday as well.

Well played, Mr. Wilson. Well played.