Image Courtesy: Khou.com
Jason Dufner, our champ of the 42nd playing of The Memorial, who had finished with a
score of five over par 77 in the third round had every reason to smile on the final day.
With a round like that, you find yourself hard to believe in you, that too in the final round
where the pressure is maximum.
Dufner, 40 had a bounce-back like never before, the next of Anirban Lahiri,
who put a bogey- free seven-under score, to finish T-2nd with Rickie Fowler.
Dufner with his solid iron play over the week has now won his fifth PGA Tour title and moves
from 56th to the 13th on the FedEx Cup standings.
He has become the only second Ohioan after Jack Nicklaus to win the Memorial Tournament.
He feels his best decision was to stay with Fowler in Jupiter, Florida last winter and playing
with him has revitalised his hunger and rekindled his passion for the game.
In his final round at the Memorial, he had seven birdies precisely on the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, 15th
and the 18th to finish with four under par for the day and making it a 13 under par for all four days.
Using a breathing technique, he says he picked up while reading about military snipers, Dufner
had improved on the greens, but at Muirfield, it did not look sure of missing the easiest putts
to making the toughest, making it almost uncertain of him.
Two weeks ago he had finished T-13th at the AT&T Byron Nelson, taking confidence from
there, he hoped to have a great run at the Dean and Deluca Invitational, but alas
he missed the cut there, but all is good when you win the tournament, that too The Memorial.
Players chasing him were Anirban Lahiri and Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson,
Lahiri had finished his round before even the drizzle at the event caused it to halt for an hour
twice, he had an astonishing bogey-free round, with seven birdies, making the biggest move on the
leaderboard of 25 spots, who was even praised by the great Nicklaus for his perseverance.
Fowler, who was in the same group with Dufner, had a solo lead for a time when he reached
12 under par, taking over Summerhays, which was short lived due to his bogey on the par-4 14th,
when he got tied for the second position with Bubba Watson, who finished at T-6th,
despite leading in the round at 12 under par at one time, finished at 8 under par, with his five birdies
when he had started to lead, tee shots made him furious and hitting those drivers with frustrations
and going to shrubs and viewers on the left and right, causing trouble to his winning situation.
Fowler, who had finished at second spot in 2010, when he had played at The Memorial for
the very first time, on Sunday, he covered a five stroke difference and briefly held the lead too, before
ending it at 10 under par.
It was Fowler‘s fifth top-10 finish this season in 11 starts, including the win at The Honda Classic.
He made a 350-yard drive on the final hole of the game, just after that rain delayed the play and
he missed the green on second shot from 136 yards and bogeyed the hole when Dufner birdied a
lengthy one to finish the challenge.
Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar finished T-4th position with their nine under par scores,
with Justin finishing at level par and Kuchar with one over par for the day.
Justin would have topped the list at the FedEx Cup standings if he had pulled it off, which certainly
looked like a possibility on all four days, but a level par score looked just not enough for the final
round.
With an exciting finish to the Memorial, we will be back with a lot more coverages of other
events this weekend.
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