Dufner ties major scoring record with 63 at PGA

PITTSFORD, New York: Jason Dufner came within inches of the lowest score in the 153-year history of championship golf but was forced to settle for a 7-under 63 in Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship, and a two-stroke lead heading into the weekend.
Dufner holed out from the fairway for eagle, rolled in a putt across the green for par and kept making birdies until he stood over a 12-foot putt that would have given him a unique 62 in a major, but left it 18 inches short.
“Probably the worst putt I hit of the day, which is a little disappointing,” Dufner said. “But all in all, it’s a 63, and name on top of the leaderboard. So that’s a great position to be playing from.”
It was the third time in the last seven years at the PGA Championship that a player had a putt at becoming the first player to shoot 62 in a major. Tiger Woods circled the hole at Southern Hills in 2007. Steve Stricker narrowly missed at Atlanta Athletic Club two years ago.
Still, Dufner could hardly be disappointed when he glanced at the leaderboard that had him at 9-under 131 — tying the 36-hole record at the PGA Championship — and two shots clear of Masters champion Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar.
His 63 broke the course record at Oak Hill held by Ben Hogan, Curtis Strange and Webb Simpson, who shot 64 about five hours earlier. Dufner became the 24th player to shoot 63 in a major — Greg Norman and Vijay Singh, both in the Hall of Fame, did it twice.
Simpson also had a chance at 63 until he made a bogey on the 16th hole of his round. US Open champion Justin Rose shot 29 on the front nine to get back into contention. After two rounds, 27 players remained under par. In five previous majors at Oak Hill, only nine players have finished the tournament in red numbers. Jack Nicklaus did it twice.
The cut was at 143, the lowest at the PGA Championship since 2001 at Atlanta Athletic Club.
For all the low scores, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were left behind.
Woods couldn’t get anything going, exchanging birdies with bogeys during a poor putting round that led to an even-par 70. He was at 1-over 141 and 10 shots behind going into the weekend. He has only one score in the 60s in 14 rounds at the majors this year.
“I’m going to have to put together a really good weekend,” Woods said. “This golf course is pretty soft. It’s definitely gettable. Got to hit the ball in play and keep the ball near the hole so I can be aggressive with my putts.”
Mickelson’s swing apparently went missing in the three weeks since he won the British Open. He was all over Oak Hill and still managed a 34 on the back nine until his wild shots caught up with him. Another 71 left him 11 shots off the lead.
Dufner was in prime position to win the PGA Championship two years ago when he had a four-shot lead with four holes to play, only to be tracked down by Keegan Bradley and then beaten in a playoff. Dufner said that day he would only be disappointed “if I never get another chance.”
A 6-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole put him at 7 under for the round, and his 15-foot birdie putt on the next hole grazed the cup. He followed with two flawless swings on the tough 18th hole, which had yielded only four birdies at that point. That left him about 12 feet below the hole.
And he left it short. There was even a nervous moment on the tap-in, when the ball came off the putter weakly and went in off the right side of the rim.
“It’s tough when you’re chasing history,” Dufner said. “You will be the first one to do something. I don’t think I’ve been the first to do anything in my life. So it was a little nerve-racking for a Friday. It’s usually the pressure you might feel toward the end of the tournament.”
Low scores were available to anyone. Even after Dufner finished his round, K.J. Choi had an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to reach 7 under. It narrowly missed, and Choi made bogey on the next hole to end that threat.
Scott is swinging the club beautifully, and his only flaw Friday was not holing enough birdie chances when the rain stopped. Even so, he was in the hunt on the weekend for the fourth time in the past six majors. He will be in the final group with Dufner on Saturday.
Henrik Stenson, a runner-up at Muirfield, had a 66 and joined Rose at 6-under 134, only three shots behind. Stricker and Robert Garrigus were another shot behind.
Dufner is a student of golf history and was thrilled to be part of it. But while that 63 put him in the record book, it doesn’t guarantee the trophy. Of the 25 previous times that someone shot 63 in a major, only five players went on to win — Nicklaus and Johnny Miller in the US Open, Norman in the British Open and Woods in the PGA Championship.