There are countless ways to prepare for a major championship. And unless you're Jason Dufner, taking three weeks off isn't highly recommended.
Yet that's what Dufner did, vacationing earlier this month in Destin, Fla., with his fiancee, Amanda Boyd. Then he turned up last Friday at Atlanta Athletic Club and got back to work.
"I've had a good year so far, so my motivation probably wasn't what it needed to be," said Dufner, No. 35 on the tour money list, with $1,678,060. "It's hard to peak every week out here. I guess I was a little burned out."
Motivation won't be an issue now — Dufner will play in the final pairing Saturday at the PGA Championship.
A few months ago, that wouldn't have seemed so far-fetched. He lost in a playoff at the Phoenix Open, then tied for third in New Orleans and sixth at The Players in consecutive starts in May. What came next, however, was part lack of motivation, part bad play: He missed five cuts in his past six starts, then decided to take time off to prepare for the year's final major.
"I don't get too excited or too down or too up; I just kind of play golf," said Dufner, 34, still searching for his first tour win. "I feel like I'm one of the best in the world at what I do, and you're going to have good weeks, you're going to have bad weeks, you're going to have disappointing nines, you're going to have disappointing weekends. That's just part of being a golf professional."
Last year, at Whistling Straits, he finished two shots out of the playoff. He said he didn't get flustered by that moment, and he won't at Atlanta Athletic Club, either.
"It doesn't really get you anywhere now," he said. "It's important in the fact that I'm competitive and in a good spot going into the weekend, but on the same end, it's not that important, to be honest with you."
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