Dufner's Redemption

The ‘battle’ was not only an internal struggle and about making amends for two years ago; or to revive what has been a less than stellar year on the PGA Tour in 2013. As the holes began dwindle around a proven championship test in Oak Hill, Dufner was challenged in a real sense by having to ‘out grind’ the ultimate grinder in playing partner Furyk, who hung tough all day as only he knows how.

A number of players well out of contention had taken advantage of Oak Hill earlier on the final day. Scott Piercy’s five-under 65 was the round of the day, Graeme McDowell, Hideki Matsuyama and Keegan Bradley all posted 66s and there were a slew of 67s in the still conditions.

World No 1 Tiger Woods was not among those taking advantage of the softened course, although a final round 70 tied his best of the week. However, it left him among the ‘also-rans’ in a tie for 40th and consigned him to another eight months of introspection before his next chance at a 15th major at Augusta next spring.

Furyk, too, had his own demons to exorcise after losing four 54-hole leads in 2012, most notably at the U.S. Open at Olympic and the Bridgestone Championship when he double bogeyed the final hole to lose to Bradley. There was also a well documented singles loss to Sergio Garcia at the Ryder Cup, when leading by a hole with two to play.

As well as Dufner played, Furyk made him earn it despite his own ball-striking struggles on the front nine. It took him until the ninth hole to find his first fairway of the day – which he promptly bogeyed – yet, somehow, he was still in the thick of it. When Dufner wedged to within kick-in distance on the 16th for the third time on Sunday, he might have allowed himself the luxury of thinking he at last had Furyk’s measure. However, the experienced American kept tensions high by draining a left-to=-right 12 footer for his own birdie to maintain the two-shot deficit heading into Oak Hill’s tough finish.

At this point in the round, Dufner was four-under for the day, and despite bogeys on the two supremely long par-4 finishing holes, it was clear the best player in the field on the day had won this championship. For 16 of the final 18 holes, Dufner has been in a different league.

That being said, at the beginning of the final round, there was not an undeserving contender for the final major of the year among the leading pairings. Furyk, after his travails of last season and more recent good form in Canada and at Akron, was certainly due a turnaround in fortunes. Henrik Stenson, on a fantastic run of top-five performances over the past month, including a second place finish at The Open, was the man in form and looked likely in the final round but kept missing fairways at crucial times to temper his run at becoming Sweden’s first male major winner.