Jason Dufner ended his two-season winless streak Sunday and his fourth PGA Tour win will be one that they talk about for quite a while.
Dufner won the CareerBuilder Challenge by surviving a rocky finish and a playoff that ended under shocking circumstances.
Unlike his first three rounds, the putts were not falling for the former PGA champ and a one-over par 37 on the front nine let a host of contenders in on the action. The toughest was David Lingmerth, winner of the 2015 Memorial title. He shot 62 on Saturday and was nearly as good over the final 18. He wrestled the lead away from Dufner with a birdie at the 16th to get to 25-under but Dufner matched him.
It looked like Dufner blew his chance to win on the par three 17th. “I thought I hit it in the water,” Dufner said afterward. He pulled that tee shot but it wound up in the rocks guarding the outer part of the green. Dufner managed to find a stance and hit the ball. It landed on the green and headed for the hole. It hit the flagstick and nearly went in, leaving him a tap-in par save.
“I thought it was gonna sneak in there,” Dufner said of his miracle save.
He sent it to a playoff with a routine par and the playoff was anything but routine.
Dufner found trouble with his tee shot the first trip down 18. He laid up to 106 yards and his wedge shot left him 11 feet for par. Lingmerth narrowly missed his birdie and it was up to Dufner. He rammed it in to continue the playoff. “I miss that one and I’m going home a loser,” is how he described it.
The second time down 18 saw both players in the right rough off the tee. What happened next was the shocking moment of the day. Lingmerth pulled his approach, it hit the rocks left of the green and rebounded into the water. He had gone 38 straight holes without a mistake. That one came at the worst time.
Dufner made par and his win was in the books.
“It was tough today. I’m proud of myself for hanging in there,” said Dufner, who shot 70 compared to Lingmerth’s 65.
Dufner put it best when it put the entire afternoon into perspective.
“You need things to happen to win,” he said.
Things happened. Fortunately for Dufner they were the right things.
