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| Jason Dufner an Former President Bill Clinton at the CareerBuilder Challenge |
Jason Dufner has always had a flair for the dramatic, and it paid off for the PGA TOUR veteran Sunday at the CareerBuilder Challenge.
Dufner made a spectacular par save from the rocks surrounding the island green on the TPC Stadium Course's 17th hole, then defeated David Lingmerth in a two-hole playoff to secure his fourth career victory.
"I'm fortunate to be in this position, and happy to be playing good golf again," Dufner said. "It was tough today. I didn't play as good as I would have liked on the front nine, but thought I played pretty good on the back nine.
David made a run at it, which I knew someone was probably going to do, but I'm proud of myself for staying positive and giving myself a chance on the last couple holes."
Dufner, the 2013 PGA Championship winner, hadn't finished in the top 10 in any of his previous six starts at the CareerBuilder Challenge. This week, he shot 64-65-64 at three different golf courses during the first three rounds and took a two-stroke lead over Jamie Lovemark into Sunday.
On the challenging Stadium Course at PGA WEST for the final round, Dufner was one over par at the turn. Dufner played the back nine in three-under par, and kept his chances for a victory alive with a chip from the rocks on number 17 – "Alcatraz" – that hit the pin and left him with a short par putt.
A 4-foot par putt on the 18th forced a playoff with Lingmerth, whose final-round 65 tied for the low round of the day and put the pressure on Dufner.
Lingmerth and Dufner each parred the 18th hole to open the playoff. Dufner parred the hole again, and with Lingmerth's second shot on the par-4 having found the water, he couldn't respond.
Dufner earned a $1,044,000 winner's check and 500 FedExCup points and moved to No. 8 in the FedExCup points standings. Lingmerth, who also lost in a playoff at the 2012 CareerBuilder Challenge, jumped to No. 13.
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