‘Sometimes doubt creeps in.’ Jason Dufner’s Quail Hollow lead is a return from the dark
With all the radiance at Quail Hollow Club on Friday — songbirds chirping, sun glistening, brook babbling, fans applauding — one could almost forget golf has a dark side.
Doubt.
Loneliness.
Jason Dufner knew — knows — that feeling. And as he explained after his second round in the Wells Fargo Championship, where he shot an 8-under 63 to assume the tournament lead, that’s not an easy place to escape.
“Golf’s a tough game,” Dufner said. “It’s a lonely game. It’s a frustrating game. There’s been times where I felt maybe these changes (in my game) weren’t right, but you’ve got to believe in it a little bit.
“Sometimes doubt creeps in.”
What golfer playing this weekend has experienced that like Dufner? After narrowly losing the 2011 PGA Championship in a playoff, only to win the same major tournament two years later, Dufner’s ranking rose to as high as No. 9 in the world.
But over the last few years, and most recent 12 months especially, the 42-year-old’s game fell off the proverbial cliff. He hasn’t finished a tournament under par since November ... if he made it through the weekend at all. His world golf ranking plummeted, to the point where he currently sits 230th.
“After you miss a cut, you’re down,” Dufner added. “You’re not feeling good, and you’re wondering.”
Which is why Dufner’s round Friday came, to be blunt, completely out of nowhere. He birdied two of his first three holes, made eagle on the par-5 No. 7, then sank another birdie on No. 8, and then gained four more strokes on the back nine. Even the Green Mile, Quail Hollow’s Bermuda triangle, couldn’t knock Dufner off his game.
Put it together, and he finished two strokes off Rory McIlroy’s 18-hole course record of 61 from back in 2015. McIlroy went on to win the tournament that year.
The last time Dufner shot a 63, which ties the lowest round of his career, he went on to win the 2013 PGA Championship.
“All the guys out here shoot these low scores,” Dufner said. “Sometimes it’s at home when you’re playing with your buddies, sometimes it’s in a pro-am. Today it just happened to be in the second round of the Wells Fargo, so I’ll take it.”
Now, one afternoon of golf doesn’t erase years of Dufner grappling with his own career mortality, nor alleviate the emotional burden of doing so. As he said, when your career is measured in rankings and cuts and tangible measurements, it’s easy to attach your sense of self-worth to those numbers.
To course-correct, Dufner has spared no expense. He said he’s on his fourth caddie of the year, fourth or fifth putter, fourth or fifth driver, fourth or fifth golf ball, and fourth or fifth lob wedge.
So, everything.
“I’m trying,” he explained, “to find stuff that’s going to work.”
In an ironic turn, Dufner has been willing to upend his entire routine because of the realizations he came to while struggling.
“My window’s pretty short on my career,” Dufner admitted. “I’ve probably got three or four more really good years left in me, so I’m not trying to be mediocre or average ... I think change can be a good thing. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right fit.”
Maybe Friday’s round was proof he’s found that fit. Maybe it’s a fluke.
But although it’s been a while since Dufner’s name topped a leaderboard, he has been in this position before. It may seem like a lifetime ago, after all the shortcomings and switches he’s made since then, but Dufner once was one of golf’s elite players.
Regardless of how the final two days at Quail Hollow shakes out, he’s reminded people — and himself — of that.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the lead or competing for a tournament,” Dufner said, “but I know what that feels like.
“I’m just going with it, you know?”
This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 3:53 PM.
