PGA Championship
Jason Dufner matches lowest round in men’s major history at Oak Hill.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Dufnering is: A) Sitting in an apparently awkward position, with one’s back against a wall and one’s hands tucked under the buttocks, the byproduct of an Internet phenomenon sparked by a photo of pro golfer Jason Dufner doing just that; B) Shooting a 63 to match the lowest score in men’s major history, as Dufner did Friday at Oak Hill Country Club in the second round of the PGA Championship, carrying him to first place at the mid-point of the tournament at 9-underpar 131.
The only thing Dufner didn’t do right was make the birdie putt that would have given him a 62.
Almost as incredible as his round was, he left that putt a foot short of the cup on No. 18, forcing him to settle for the distinction of being one of only two dozen men to shoot 63 in majors. By the way, he also has a two-stroke advantage over fellow U.S. pros Matt Kuchar (66) and Jim Furyk (68) and Masters champion Adam Scott (68) of Australia.
It’s hard to shoot a 62, Dufner said, even under regular PGA Tour event conditions without the severe course setups and tensions of majors.
“Certain conditions have to be right,” Dufner said. “For the moisture and the rain to make this course soft and playable really kind of fit into those cards, and then you have to play great on top of it.
“It’s just a tough thing to do to shoot a 62 in a major, and I’m sure there’s a little bit of mental hurdle for some guys to break that barrier.”
Nobody had shot 63 at Oak Hill before, though 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson came close with a Friday morning 64 that was all the more impressive because half of his round was played in a downpour.
That score capped a remarkable turnaround for Simpson, who was 5 over par through eight holes of his opening round on Thursday, and it lifted him 65 spots into a tie for ninth at 136.
Just ahead of that group, sharing fifth at 134, were England’s Justin Rose (66) and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (66), with U.S. pros Steve Stricker (67) and Robert Garrigus (68) in joint seventh at 135.
Canadian players had a tough day. David Hearn (76) of Brantford, Ont., fell from a tie for third when the day began to a tie for 50th at 142, while Graham DeLaet (76) of Weyburn, Sask., missed the cut with his 146 total.
There was more misery, too. Those who didn’t come close to matching Dufner and Simpson, either because of the effects of the morning downpour or because they just didn’t play well enough included: defending champion Rory McIlroy (71- 140); Ian Poulter (71), Keegan Bradley (72) and Tiger Woods (70), all at 141; Phil Mickelson (71-142); Brandt Snedeker (73143); Bubba Watson (74-144); and Ernie Els (72-146).
Watson and Els also missed the cut, which reduced the field to 75.
“I have got to go low tomorrow,” said Mickelson, who has five major championships on his resume, including the 2005 PGA Championship in Springfield, N.J. “I have got to shoot 6 or 7 under par tomorrow to have a chance on Sunday.”
Uh … Phil is 11 strokes behind Dufner, and there are 48 other golfers between them.
Tiger? Ten strokes and 36 other players to pass before he can track down the leader.
“I’m going to have to do my job and shoot a good round. But also, then again, I’m so far back that, if the leaders go ahead and run with it and shoot a low one tomorrow, I’m going to be pretty far behind,” said Woods, who has 14 major titles, but none since the 2008 U.S. Open, and has never broken par in six PGA Championship rounds at Oak Hill. Friday’s even-par 70 was his career best at this course.
Friday’s scoring average was 72.26, about an eighth of a stroke higher than it was Thursday, on a layout measuring 7,132 yards.
The legendary Ben Hogan produced the first tournament 64 at Oak Hill in the 1942 Times-Union Open, and Curtis Strange matched it while winning the 1989 U.S. Open.