2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner was in a jovial mood ahead of the 2016 PGA Championship in a fortnight’s time at Baltusrol Golf Club. The 39-year-old endured a torrid 2015, but has bounced back in 2016.
The Alabama resident made headlines in Scotland last week for the ‘frat house’ he shared with the likes of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas at Royal Troon. They enjoyed the American pastime of baseball and Dufner showed off his skills.
Never get too old for backyard baseball.. @JasonDufner sending dingers over the fence #athlete pic.twitter.com/ZpoOnveFIr
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) July 13, 2016
The PGA Championship could be seen as the most American of the majors, with an emphasis on allowing club professionals to take part through qualifying at the PGA Professional National Championship. This year the PGA of America, host of the season’s final major, celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Dufner, who was born in Cleveland, has made nine cuts in a row since the week after the Masters. He won the Career Builder Challenge in January this year and has since been in the top-15 five times on tour.
His win in California propelled the Auburn University alumni back into the world’s top-100 golfers after he had slipped to 135th in a 2015 campaign that only included one top-10 finish, which came at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Dufner has built a history with the year’s final major in a short period of time. The four-time PGA Tour winner came close at Whistling Straits in 2010, where he finished two shots behind Martin Kaymer. In 2011 the American was disheartened by a playoff loss to Keegan Bradley at Atlanta Athletic Club, where he held the 54-hole lead and dropped three shots in his last four holes on Sunday.
Dufner finally broke through at a major in 2013, despite making bogeys at the 17th and 18th. He’ll be keen to win another Wanamaker Trophy, more so after sharing 22nd place at The Open last week.
