Inside the Ropes: Dufner hopes to avoid sleepy Sundays

Inside the Ropes: Dufner hopes to avoid sleepy Sundays










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange May 20, 2013 1:30 AMThe SportsXchange


Unfortunately for Jason Dufner, the most excitement he's caused this year came from what has become known as "Dufnering."

Dufner, who had a breakthrough season last year on the PGA Tour at the age of 35, was making an appearance at youth community center in Dallas in late March when a staffer took a picture of him seemingly zoned out while sitting on the floor during a relaxation period.

The staffer posted the picture on the Internet, and it went viral.

"What can I say, I was tired, my back hurt from sitting on the floor, and we were talking about relaxation and focusing," Dufner said. "Just caught me at a perfect time. The funny thing about it is the photo taken represents how I act all the time. It was a sheer moment of Jason Dufner by whoever captured the moment for the 30 seconds I checked out."

Since then, PGA Tour pros including Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Brandt Snedeker have posted pictures of themselves "Dufnering," and fans have done so, too.

You can find them all on Twitter.

Dufner said the best one he has seen is of "a guy who was on a transport plane in the military and they dropped the bottom part (of the plane) out and they were about 20,000 feet in the air and he was doing it right on the back end of the plane."

After losing in a playoff to Bradley in the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, Dufner shed his journeyman status and became a star last year, starting when he captured the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by beating Ernie Els in a playoff.

Then, after getting married, he came back a few weeks later to win the Byron Nelson Championship and seemed to be headed to another victory in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial before shooting 74 in the final round and finishing second behind Zach Johnson. He returns to the Fort Worth, Texas, event this week.

Dufner capped his year by playing in the Ryder Cup, posting a 3-1 record, including a 4-and-2 victory over Peter Hanson of Sweden, one of only three United States victories in singles as the Europeans retained the trophy at Medinah.

"I think a couple things happened," said Dufner, who is back at Colonial this week. "I was close to winning a major, the PGA, lost that in the playoff. After that, that gave me a lot of confidence to go out and play well no matter what the events were, if they were majors or global events or just PGA Tour events.

"From a physical standpoint, I feel like I've really worked hard on my golf game. I've been very consistent with my practice, same focus on what I'm trying to get better at now for about 4 1/2 years. Same with the preparation. I'm diligent about having the same routine for about four years now.

"And being consistent with that practice and that preparation has given me a lot of confidence that when I show up at events, I feel like I'm going to play good week in and week out no matter where I might be playing that week."

Although Dufner has played well at times this year, his best golf came when he tied for ninth in both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the Middle East Swing of the European Tour in January.

Dufner doesn't believe it's because he's trying to live up to expectations, his own or those of others, after last season.

"I'm not sure," said Dufner, whose best finish on the PGA Tour this season is a tie for 12th in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. "I'm kind of going through it right now. Not much experience with it. I don't know. I don't feel like I've added any pressure on myself.

"I've had some opportunities to play overseas. That put me a little bit behind because that cut my schedule here on the PGA Tour. I played in a lot of bad weather, wind. Got into a position where I wasn't really happy with where my golf swing was.


"But I think I've turned the page and kind of going in the right direction."

Dufner tied for 20th in the Masters and seemed headed toward a high finish at the Players Championship before shooting 80 in the final round to slide 49 spots to a tie for 62nd.

Actually, that's been the story of his season, the Sunday blues. Dufner has been in position to contend or even win more than a few times before finishing badly.

His final-round scoring average is 72.56, and he hasn't broken 70 on Sunday in eight tries on the PGA Tour this season.

"I played pretty decent golf," said Dufner, who admits that putting is his least favorite part of the game, and it shows. He is averaging 29.46 putts per round. "I haven't had a realistic chance to win in any of the events I played this year.

"Just one round kind of slips away shooting 74, 75, that kind of gets you behind the eight ball. But I've had a lot of good play. I feel like my game's coming around. I'm just trying to figure out how to put four good rounds together to score a good score for the week."

Possibly all he needs is a little less "Dufnering" on Sundays.



COMING UP

PGA TOUR: Crowne Plaza Invitation at Colonial at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel and 3-6 p.m. EDT on CBS.

LAST YEAR: Zach Johnson holed a five-foot putt for par to give him what appeared to be a three-stroke victory over Jason Dufner for his second title at Colonial in three years. However, Johnson forgot to re-mark his ball after moving it because his coin was in Dufner's line, and he was assessed a two-stroke penalty, leaving him with a one-stroke victory after a closing even-par 70. Johnson also won the John Deere Classic in July, giving him two victories in a season for the third time in his PGA Tour career. Dufner, a 35-year-old journeyman who had never won on the circuit before 2012, seemed to be headed for this third victory in four tournaments by opening with scores of 65-64-66 before closing with a 74 that included a double bogey and a triple bogey.



CHAMPIONS TOUR: 74th Senior PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, noon-3 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on NBC.

LAST YEAR: Roger Chapman of England built a nine-stroke lead early in the final round and held on to claim his first victory on the Champions Tour by two shots over John Cook at Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich. The 53-year-old Chapman, who had only three professional victories previously, added the U.S. Senior Open less than a month later. In the Senior PGA, he built a five-stroke lead after 54 holes with rounds of 68-67-64 before closing with a 1-over-par 72, carding bogeys on three of the last five holes. Kenny Perry posted a tournament-record 62 in the final round, but all it got him was a tie for ninth, five strokes behind Chapman.



LPGA TOUR: Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic at Ocean Club Golf Course in Paradise Island, Bahamas, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. EDT; Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: This is the inaugural tournament and the first time an LPGA Tour event will be played in the Bahamas.