You are viewing: April 2012

Jason Dufner Claims First PGA Tour Victory in Louisiana

Jason Dufner has been on the cusp of winning several tournaments in the past two years and today he fulfilled his potential by claiming the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.  

Through the first three rounds of play, Dufner shot rounds of 67-65-67 to sit atop the leaderboard at 17-under par, two clear of his competition heading into Sunday's final round.

Dufner, wearing XPS-1 and FJ Apparel, started off the day with five straight pars before a bogey on the sixth hole that dropped him from the lead.  He rebounded quickly with back-to-back birdies on seven and eight to retake the top spot.  Dufner added another birdie at 10 to retain his lead.  Then after several gutsy back nine par saves, Dufner's drive on the par four 16th found a hazard.  With an alligator lurking nearby, Dufner wisely took a drop and hit his ball to the right side of the green.  Now looking at 40-plus feet for par to stay tied for the lead, Dufner calmly rolled in the improbable putt to keep his momentum.  After grinding out two more pars on 17 and 18, Dufner was headed to a sudden death playoff. 

Both players exchanged pars on the opening playoff hole and they headed back to the 18th tee for the third time today.  This time Dufner seized the moment, hitting the par five 18th in two shots and making a routine two putts for birdie and the victory.  This is Dufner's first PGA Tour win.  Post round Dufner stated of his winning performance, "I am really, really excited and to get the monkey off my back is a great feeling". 

Luke Donald (FJ ICON MyJoys) also put on an impressive performance, shooting a final round 67 to finish solo third and retaking the number one spot on the Official World Golf Rankings.  

Curtis returns to winner's circle in Texas

Former British Open Champion, Ben Curtis captured an emotional victory in San Antonio this week at the Valero Texas Open.  Curtis in head to toe FJ performance apparel, opened the week with back to back 67's, racing up the leaderboard with the 10-under par total.  Blustery winds made scoring difficult on Saturday as Curtis shot a one over par 73, despite the over par score Curtis retained the lead heading into the final round.

The tough scoring conditions from Saturday carried over to the final round, but Curtis (DryJoys Tour and StaSof) kept his head down and grinded out a front nine 35 to remain ahead of his challengers.  Then Curtis made early bogey's on the back nine to drop into a tie for the lead.  He fought back, making a string of pars before holing an unlikely 23-footer on the 17th hole to remain one ahead of his competition.  On the final hole, Curtis's challengers failed to make birdie giving Curtis two putts for the win.  He would finish the tournament out in style, holing the 12-footer for birdie and a two stroke victory.

This is Curtis's fourth PGA Tour win and first in the last six years adding post round, "It's been a tough couple of years just fighting through it." The win moves Curtis to the 28th spot on the FedEx Cup rankings.  

Bubba Watson Wins 2012 Masters

The big hitting lefty from Bagdad, Florida, Bubba Watson is now a Masters Champion.  Bubba wearing a new FJ ICON pattern and SPIDR2 glove, shot under par in each of the first three rounds of the tournament to sit at six under par after the first three days of competition.  For the final round Bubba was paired with fellow FJ Staffer Louis Oosthuizen.  Louis was one stroke in front of Bubba as they stepped onto the first tee of the final day.

Oosthuizen (DryJoys Tour and SciFlex) struck first, on the downhill par five second hole Louis blistered a four iron from over 250 yards at the open-center of the green.  The shot landed just short and took a hard break right towards the hole on the back of the green, the ball continued to roll and roll until hitting the flag and dropping into the cup for a double eagle.  This was only the forth double eagle in Masters history and first double eagle on the 2nd hole.  The albatross moved Louis to the top of the leaderboard - four strokes in front of Bubba Watson.

Bubba fought back with a birdie on the 5th hole to draw a shot closer to the leader Oosthuizen.

Watson kept the pressure on Oosthuizen converting a two putt birdie on the par five 13th hole.  He then added birdies on 14, 15, and 16 to draw even with the former British Open Champion.  Both players parred the final two holes, setting up a sudden death playoff.

Teeing off the eighteenth hole for the fifth time this week, both players hit drives straight up the narrow fairway.  They then exchanged brilliant approach shots, setting up potential birdies.  They both narrowly missed their birdie putts, halved pars, and headed to the steeply downhill tenth hole.  

Bubba's tee shot missed the fairway well right of his intended target, landing behind the galleries lining the fairway.  With Bubba seemingly in some trouble, Oosthuizen laid back with a fairway metal only to miss the green short on his approach.  Now Bubba sized up his shot from the pine straw right of the fairway, it called for a 30+ yard hook from a dodgy lie with a short iron to hit the green.  The lefty pulled the shot off perfectly giving him a birdie look for the win.  With Oostuizen failing to get up and down, Bubba would need two putts for the win.  Watson calmly lagged the putt to the hole and tapped in to claim the green jacket.   

Mahan wins for the second time in 2012

Hunter Mahan shot a 1-under 71 this Sunday to win the Shell Houston Open.  Hunter entered the final round one stroke off of the 54 hole lead thanks to a seven under par third round that shot sprung him up the crowded leaderboard.  

Mahan's final round started with eight straight pars before sticking his approach on the 237 yard par-3 ninth hole.  He converted the five foot birdie putt to take a one shot lead into the back nine.  Mahan added another birdie at the tenth hole to increase his lead.  The lead was one as Mahan stood on the tee of the treacherous 18th hole.  His drive split the fairway setting up a 200 yard approach to the large undulating green.  After a well struck iron shot, Mahan two putted for the one shot victory.  With the win Mahan becomes the first two time winner on the 2012 PGA Tour. 

Mahan in FJ ICON and StaSof, led the field in greens in regulation hitting nearly 90 percent during the tournament.  The win also moves Mahan to number four on the Official World golf rankings, making him the highest ranked American player heading into the Masters Tournament.