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Jason Dufner Wins PGA Championship
Another Major Near Miss Easier to Take for Furyk
Tiger's Major Misery Extended at Oak Hill
Late Stumble Foils Scott's PGA Title Bid
Swedes Still Seek Men's Major Breakthrough
Jason Dufner Wins PGA Championship
ROCHESTER, August 12, 2013 (AFP) - Jason Dufner set aside emotional scars from squandering a major title two years ago to win the PGA Championship on Sunday, holding off Jim Furyk despite a bogey-bogey finish.
The 36-year-old American, who had a four-shot lead with four holes to play but lost the 2011 PGA Championship, fired a final-round two-under par 68 to finish on 10-under par 270 for 72 holes, beating Furyk by two strokes.
"It's pretty neat to come back and win a PGA to be honest with you," Dufner said. "You always carry those scars with you."
Dufner won the Wanamaker Trophy and the top prize of $1.445 million from the $8 million event with the lowest 72-hole score at Oak Hill, breaking the mark of 274 by Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 PGA Championship.
"It's a great feeling to finally win one," Dufner said. "I can't believe this is happening to me. It feels really, really good. It's amazing to me this actually happened to me."
Dufner, who matched the 18-hole record low in any major with a 63 in the second round, went 26 holes without a bogey until the last two holes and by then it was too late to deny him the victory.
"The last two holes were unforgettable," Dufner said. "I wish I could have closed it out with no bogeys but I was glad to get the job done."
Among the first to congratulate Dufner was Keegan Bradley, the US rival who beat him in a playoff for the 2011 PGA Championship crown.
"He just said, 'I'm proud of you,' and I said, 'Thanks a lot. it means a lot for you to be here,'" Dufner said.
Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, was second on 272 after shooting 71, making bogeys on the last two holes, which played the hardest of any this week at Oak Hill.
"I needed to keep the pedal down and make pars there and keep the pressure on him and I just didn't do it," said Furyk.
"If I could go back I would have to try and make par at 17 and 18 and try and put some heat on him."
The only other players to shoot 63 in a major-winning effort were Tiger Woods at the 2007 PGA, Greg Norman at the 1986 British Open, Ray Floyd at the 1982 PGA, Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 US Open and Johnny Miller at the 1973 US Open.
Furyk, who has not won any title since the 2010 US PGA Tour Championship, began the day with a one-stroke lead but failed to win just as he did four times when leading after 54 holes last year, including at the US Open.
Sweden's Henrik Stenson was third on 273 with countryman Jonas Blixt fourth on 274 after each shot 70 in the final round. Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia and American Scott Piercy shared fifth on 275.
Dufner began the back nine at 11-under after birdies at the fourth, fifth and eighth holes and a seven-foot par save at the ninth. An 18-inch par putt just curled into right edge of the hole at the 10th, a hint of the pressure contained behind his stoic face.
Furyk, with equally calm demeanor, birdied the par-3 sixth and took a bogey at the ninth, but then matched Dufner par for par on the back nine.
Furyk made a six-foot par at the par-3 15th but Dufner topped him from half the distance and led by two shots with three holes to play.
At the 16th, Dufner put his approach inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie but Furyk curled in a 10-foot birdie putt of his own to remain two back with two to play.
Furyk put his approach into the rough at 17 while Dufner was safely on the far side of the green from the pin. Dufner rolled his long putt three feet past the cup but Furyk found the rough just off the green with his third shot and chipped just past the hole, tapping in for a bogey.
Dufner missed his three-foot par putt but still led Furyk by two shots.
At 18, Furyk found the rough twice but Dufner's second shot came up short of the green in the thick grass too.
Furyk blasted out, missed a 30-foot par putt and tapped in for bogey. Dufner chipped out to 15 feet and two-putted for the victory, kissing his wife Amanda and grabbing her rear in celebration as he walked off the 18th green.
South Africa's Tim Clark aced the 220-yard par-3 11th hole with a 3-hybrid, the third hole-in-one of his career and the first in a PGA Championship since 2010.
British Open winner Phil Mickelson stumbled to a 72 and a 12-over 292 finish while world number one Tiger Woods fired a 70 to finish on 284 for a share of 40th, matching last year's Masters for the worst 72-hole major finish of his professional career.
Another Major Near Miss Easier to Take for Furyk
ROCHESTER, August 12, 2013 (AFP) - Jim Furyk still has not won a title in almost three years but the 43-year-old American's disappointment in losing the PGA Championship was eased Sunday because he was simply outplayed.
Furyk made bogeys on the final two holes even as leader Jason Dufner did the same, giving Dufner his first major title by two strokes and leaving Furyk disappointed but not feeling like he lost an event he should have won.
"There are other times I really felt like the tournament slipped through my fingers and out of my grasp and I was definitely disappointed," Furyk said.
"I'm disappointed I didn't win because I really felt like I played well enough to do so. But I have a lot of respect for the way Jason played and how well he struck the ball.
"I don't know if it makes anything easy or less easy but I don't look at it as I lost the golf tournament. I got beat by somebody that played better."
Dufner had squandered a four-stroke lead with four holes to play to lose the 2011 PGA Championship while Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, had blown 54-hole leads last year, including one at the US Open,
"At the end of that tournament, I felt like I lost the tournament," Furyk said. "Today I feel like I got beat. I didn't beat myself, I don't think."
But Furyk squandered another 54-hole lead, having been atop Dufner by a stroke when the day began.
"I have no regrets. I played my heart out," Furyk said. "I gave it a heck of a shot.
"Wish I could have put a little heat on him and made him work those last two holes a little bit. I wasn't able to do that. It's a little bit of a thorn in my side. But he played well."
Dufner set up tap-in birdies with solid iron shots at the fifth, eighth and 16th holes, the last one matched by Furyk from 10 feet to force the fight to the final holes, the two toughest of the week at Oak Hill.
"Those three iron shots where he hit it tap-in distance and I didn't hit it as crisp -- I didn't play quite as good a round," Furyk said. "It was a good solid round but got beat by a guy that played better.
"He didn't miss many fairways and he hit some really good iron shots. He hit it to a foot (from the cup) on five, eight and 16. I mean, tap-in birdies. He hit the ball in play very solidly and made enough putts to separate himself from the field."
Furyk, 43, had been feeling frustrated about not having won any title since the 2010 US PGA Tour Championship but felt rejuvenated after his near-miss at Oak Hill.
"I feel good about my chances in the future," Furyk said. "I'm disappointed but I'm kind of re-energized. I was worn out and I wasn't having fun out there. Now I've got some energy and I'm looking forward to playing.
"I am disappointed. It has been a while since I have won and I've had some chances to close the door and haven't done it.
"I guess it's days like this that will make the next one sweeter."
Tiger's Major Misery Extended at Oak Hill
ROCHESTER, August 11, 2013 (AFP) - Tiger Woods says he is unconcerned about another year passing without another major win, but his bid to break the all-time
record of Jack Nicklaus is clearly in jeopardy.
World number one Woods spent much of Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship touring the trees and testing the thick rough at Oak Hill's 7,163-yard layout on his way to a par-70 to finish 72 holes on four-over par 284.
Woods finished in a share of 40th to match his worst 72-hole professional result in a major from last year's Masters, one spot worse than his share of 39th at the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
The 14-time major champion, chasing the record 18 major wins by Nicklaus, has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open.
And while Woods shared fourth at the Masters and sixth at the British Open this year, he has not broken 70 in his past 16 weekend rounds at a major.
"I was close in the two of them," Woods said of his year at the majors.
"Certainly had a chance to win the Masters and the British this year. The other two, I just didn't hit it good enough. Just the way it goes.
"Is it concerning? No. I've been in half of them. So that's about right. If you are going to be in three-quarters or half of them with a chance to win on the back nine, you have just got to get it done."
Contending in only two majors a year being "about right" is a far cry form the dominance Woods once showed, having won four majors in a row starting at the 2000 US Open.
Woods, who turns 38 in December, faces a crucial stretch in his pursuit of Nicklaus as he has won major titles on courses where five of the next seven majors will be held -- two at Augusta National, one at next year's PGA Championship venue Valhalla and one each at the next two British Open venues, Hoylake and St. Andrews.
And his drought will have stretched to nearly six years before his next major opportunity comes again at the Masters next April.
"We have a long way to go to that and I have a lot of golf to play between now and then," Woods said.
Woods said he plans on taking some time off before preparing for the US PGA playoffs and the Presidents Cup in October.
He won't be wanting to see Oak Hill again any time soon, having not cracked par this week or when he finished on 12-over 292 in the 2003 PGA at Oak Hill.
Woods is a combined 63-under par in 14 other PGA Championship appearances but 16-over for his eight rounds at Oak Hill.
"It's a fantastic golf course," Woods said. "It's really tough."
Sunday marked the 11th time in his past 12 major rounds that Woods has failed to break par -- the lone exception being a 69 in the first round of last month's British Open that was his only sub-70 major round of the year.
"It's more frustrating not being in it," Woods said. "Having a chance on the back nine on Sunday, I can live with that.
"Today I'm grinding my tail off coming in just to shoot even par for the day and I'm nowhere in it. That's tough."
A week after cruising to his eighth career victory at Firestone in a World Golf Championships event, Woods could not duplicate the feat under major conditions.
"I put four good rounds together last week. Unfortunately it wasn't this week," Woods said. "Didn't seem to hit it as good and didn't make many putts until the last few holes today. But I didn't give myself many looks and certainly didn't hit the ball good enough to be in it."
Woods took a bogey at eight and missed a three-foot bogey putt at the ninth, but birdied 12, sank a 20-foot birdie putt at 14 and birdied the par-3 15th to finish at par.
Late Stumble Foils Scott's PGA Title Bid
ROCHESTER, August 12, 2013 (AFP) - Masters champion Adam Scott missed his chance for his second major title, spending too much time in Oak Hill's deep rough Sunday to make a charge at the PGA Championship.
The 33-year-old Australian made five birdies and five bogeys to settle for a final-round par-70 and a five-under 275 total, sharing fifth place five shots behind US winner Jason Dufner.
"It would have been nice to get another win in a major seeing I had kind of put myself in position, but I didn't, so I have got to push on and try and win a couple other tournaments this year to feel like I really got something out of my good play," Scott said.
Scott opened bogey-birdie and birdies at the ninth and 12th put him seven-under, four off the lead with six holes to play.
But forced to gamble, Scott found his way into Oak Hill's unforgiving dense rough and made bogeys at 13, 16 and 18 against a lone late birdie at the par-3 15th.
"It was a mixed bag, just a sloppy finish unfortunately. Hit a few poor drivers coming in and made it hard to make par," Scott said.
"I felt like I was still in there with a chance coming up 13 if I could do something special up there and 14. You never know. But the rough got me. I was in the long stuff too much to really have a good chance. You can't escape it all the time.
"I'm not frustrated at all. I wish I could have played better and I really didn't. I just didn't play clean enough golf."
Scott, whose anchored-putting style will be banned starting in 2016, wants to have chances like he did at Augusta National, where he became the first Aussie to win a green jacket, and at Oak Hill.
"The real goal is to put myself in this position a lot more," Scott said. "This year I think I led every major at some point during the week. It's hard to stay there for four days and have the lead the whole time, but I feel I'm improving still, so it's something to build on for next year."
And the next major start for Scott will be a Masters title defense.
"I'm going to try to do all the right things between now and next April and go back and try and defend," Scott said. "I feel like I've got the right program in place. I just have to keep the motivation high and keep working hard."
That includes a successful run in the upcoming US PGA Tour playoffs.
"I would like to feel I could win a couple of those events if I continue to play well and get some satisfaction out of what I feel like has been a good year of golf," Scott said.
Aussie Jason Day shared eighth on 277 with countryman Marc Leishman sharing 12th another stroke adrift.
"The future looks really promising (for Australian golf)," Scott said. "Jason obviously has got a real taste for it. He was hot for a while and he looks like he has really got the game to where he's going to be a threat for as long as he wants now. Leish has got to be feeling good too.
"We've got a whole host of guys with the experience. It's just a matter of form. When that comes back, we're going to be really strong."
Swedes Still Seek Men's Major Breakthrough
ROCHESTER, August 12, 2013 (AFP) - Henrik Stenson and Jonas Blixt failed in their quest to become Sweden's first major men's golf champion but gained precious knowledge in defeat Sunday in the PGA Championship.
Blixt, in only his second major tournament, and Stenson, coming off a runner-up effort last month at the British Open, each fired par-70s at Oak Hill in the final round of the $8 million event.
That left Stenson third on seven-under 273, three strokes behind US winner Jason Dufner and one stroke ahead of Blixt.
"I was still giving it a good fight and had an unbelievable round. I will take a lot of positives out of that," Stenson said. "Happy with my performance. I kept it together nicely."
Stenson opened with a bogey but answered with an eagle at the par-5 fourth.
"That put me back in a good momentum again," he said. "I didn't play best today but I was still hanging in there."
After going bogey-birdie at the seventh and eighth, Stenson birdied the par-5 13th and matched runner-up Jim Furyk for second, two behind Dufner, but found a divot short of the green at 14 and made a rally-killing bogey.
"That killed the outside chances I had on the back nine to make a charge," Stenson said. "Ended up plugging it in a bunker after duffing it in there.
"I can't afford that at that time. If you are little behind and you need to make up some ground at these events, that could be make or break it."
Blixt won last month at US PGA Greenbrier Classic to qualify for his first major, last month's British Open at Muirfield, and the PGA Championship, where his third-round 66 put him in with a chance on Sunday.
A bogey-bogey start and finish spelled doom for Blixt's title dream but he made four birdies on the back nine, including back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 to leave him three back with four holes to play.
"Got myself in position to really attack the golf course and attack the lead. I was a little far back but you never know in a major what's going to happen," Blixt said.
"Coming down the stretch, got a little jittery again. Kind of exciting to be up there with those guys and seeing your name up there. I've got to get used to that a little more for next time.
"You get jittery. You get very excited. It's a lot of fun to contend. But this is a new stage. I can probably handle this a little better next time."
Blixt learned plenty about how he needs to handle the back-nine pressure in a major.
"I played well. I learned a lot, especially about myself and how I would react in a situation like this," Blixt said. "I'm going to go back and analyze it a little more and see if I can do better next time. It was a learning experience and a lot of fun."
Collates scores from Sunday's final round of the $8 million PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club (par 70):
270 - Jason Dufner (USA) 68-63-71-68
272 - Jim Furyk (USA) 65-68-68-71
273 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 68-66-69-70
274 - Jonas Blixt (SWE) 68-70-66-70
275 - Scott Piercy (USA) 67-71-72-65, Adam Scott (AUS) 65-68-72-70
276 - David Toms (USA) 71-69-69-67
277 - Jason Day (AUS) 67-71-72-67, Zach Johnson (USA) 69-70-70-68, Dustin Johnson (USA) 72-71-65-69, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 69-71-67-70
278 - Graeme McDowell (NIR) 70-69-73-66, Boo Weekley (USA) 72-69-70-67, Marc Leishman (AUS) 70-70-70-68, Marc Warren (SCO) 74-67-68-69, Roberto Castro (USA) 68-69-71-70, Kevin Streelman (USA) 70-72-66-70, Steve Stricker (USA) 68-67-70-73
279 - Keegan Bradley (USA) 69-72-72-66, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 72-68-73-66, Rickie Fowler (USA) 70-68-72-69
280 - Michael Thompson (USA) 72-67-72-69, Matt Kuchar (USA) 67-66-76-71, David Lynn (ENG) 69-69-71-71
281 - Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 68-71-71-71, Robert Garrigus (USA) 67-68-74-72, Webb Simpson (USA) 72-64-73-72, Bill Haas (USA) 68-70-71-72
282 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 68-72-75-67, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 68-75-69-70, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 69-72-70-71, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 69-71-70-72
283 - Peter Hanson (SWE) 72-69-74-68, Martin Kaymer (GER) 68-68-78-69, Paul Casey (ENG) 67-72-74-70, Brendon De Jonge (ZIM) 71-71-71-70, Justin Rose (ENG) 68-66-77-72, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 72-68-70-73, Lee Westwood (ENG) 66-73-68-76
284 - Matt Jones (AUS) 72-71-73-68, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 71-70-74-69, J.J. Henry (USA) 71-71-73-69, Danny Willett (ENG) 73-70-72-69, D.A. Points (USA) 73-70-72-69, Tiger Woods (USA) 71-70-73-70, Charley Hoffman (USA) 69-67-73-75
285 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 70-71-75-69, John Merrick (USA) 75-68-73-69, Ryan Palmer (USA) 73-70-71-71, Josh Teater (USA) 71-71-71-72, David Hearn (CAN) 66-76-71-72, K.J. Choi (KOR) 76-65-71-73, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 67-69-75-74, Luke Guthrie (USA) 71-71-69-74
286 - Scott Stallings (USA) 73-70-73-70, Ryan Moore (USA) 69-71-73-73
287 - Hunter Mahan (USA) 70-68-78-71, Shane Lowry (IRL) 71-70-75-71, Chris Kirk (USA) 71-69-73-74, Ken Duke (USA) 75-68-70-74
288 - Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 75-68-76-69, Ian Poulter (ENG) 70-71-77-70, Tommy Gainey (USA) 69-74-73-72, Harris English (USA) 74-69-72-73, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 69-68-75-76
289 - Ben Curtis (USA) 73-70-74-72, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 70-73-70-76
290 - Tim Clark (RSA) 69-71-75-75, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 70-72-73-75
291 - John Senden (AUS) 72-70-73-76, Brooks Koepka (USA) 71-72-71-77
292 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 71-71-78-72, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 72-69-74-77
293 - Gary Woodland (USA) 73-70-80-70
296 - Darren Clarke (NIR) 69-73-74-80