Jason Dufner wins CareerBuilder Challenge title in play-off

He said: “It was pretty tough”.

The shot, “that low, little spinning one with some check on it”, as he put it, made a beeline for the hole, hit the pin and rolled away about a foot.

The 28-year-old Indian, who was tied third after two rounds, is playing his first full season on the PGA Tour.

Lingmerth looked unflappable through 19 holes Sunday, but his second shot on the second playoff hole careened to the left and found the lake that runs all along the left side of the hole. At Sawgrass, it would have motored into the water, and Dufner thought his ball was wet here.

Dufner earned his PGA Tour card at PGA West in 2008 and is comfortable on the Stadium Course, the Pete Dye-designed layout being used in the event for the first time since 1987.

“And then I was able to stand. Sometimes you get there and you don’t have a stance”.

“I was just trying to focus on keeping my play the way I had been playing and, if Jason, for some reason didn’t keep scoring the way he did, I was hoping to have a chance”, Lingmerth said.

A couple of good breaks saw Jason Dufner back in the winner’s circle after he defeated David Lingmerth in a playoff for the CareerBuilder Challenge at La Quinta. “I’m confident with whatever club I’ve got in my hand”.

Following his round, Mickelson joined PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and various dignitaries in honoring wounded heroes and military families at a military appreciation ceremony on the 18th green of the TPC Stadium Course as part of the tournament’s Patriot Day. I should have probably choked up a little bit more on the grip, that would have probably… helped me not have the grass grab it so much, so it turned the ball over.

Both men completed regulation at 25-under 263 – four shots better than a trio that tied for third.

“I remember a lot of the shots and how the course played”, Dufner said. You might think his clinching putt would qualify as the host of the day, but we’d pick a different one. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain tied for 29th at Kapalua in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and made the 36-hole cut but failed to advance to the final round in the Sony Open in Honolulu. The duo exchanged pars on the first playing of the par-4 18th in sudden death; Lingmerth’s two-putt par was matched by Dufner’s scrambling one-putt from 12 feet.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge and having to really focus on every tee shot to get it in play, ” Mickelson said Friday “But I hit a lot of good shots today on crucial tee shots and was able to get it in play”. Coming off a ninth-place tie last week in Honolulu in the Sony Open, he opened with a 64 on Thursday on the Nicklaus Course.