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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 2, 2017

Jason Dufner

Dublin, Ohio

DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome Jason Dufner. Thanks for joining us for a few minutes after an equally successful 65 in Round 2 at the Memorial Tournament. 14-under, I think we saw that that breaks the 36-hole record previously set by Scott Hoch and Rickie Fowler.

Obviously heading in the right direction. Want to keep that going. Just a few thoughts about the 36 holes here.

JASON DUFNER: Yeah, nice start. Nice to grab a record for the time being. So I'm happy with the position I'm in in the weekend. I need another couple good rounds, but I feel good with my game.

I think going forward just trying to see how the golf course is going to play the rest of the week, see what the weather does for us. There's a big challenge on this golf course, I think it gets a little tougher, generally speaking, on the weekend. So I won't be quite expecting to shoot 14-under on the weekend. But maybe the whether, the soft rain will make the course soft and more playable. So we'll just kind of go from there and see how it goes.

DOUG MILNE: Your putting is something that everybody's been talking a lot about. Through two rounds you're 30-32 inside of ten feet. Do you attribute a lot of that to the revamped breathing techniques you've been working on? They talked about both of those things hand in hand.

JASON DUFNER: I think I've been doing pretty well with my putting all year. So it's a combination of what I've been doing, working with the putting, working with my setup, getting comfortable with where I'm at as far as address positions go.

And then obviously routine is a big thing. It seems like the guys that putt well, their routine is pretty crisp, pretty clean, pretty consistent. I think I've lacked in that area at times. This week it's working well for me.

I'm happy with those things. I think my putting -- my putting has always been my struggle, but this year it's been my strongest attribute statistically, if you look.

Q. Can you explain a little bit more the breathing, where that came from, where you heard about it, who you were working with?
JASON DUFNER: I was working with myself on it. And I just read about it. A friend of mine sent me -- I don't know what you call it, somebody did some research on it, a doctor, and he works with sniper shooters in the Marines. I read this article that he sent me. It just talked about how they really focus on their breathing and where they're -- I can't really feel my heartbeat, slowing my heartbeat down, but that's the obvious goal.

I think the one thing that also helps it gives me something to think about other than my stroke or holing this putt or the situation I'm in. Subconsciously I'm just putting but I'm more focused on my breathing and where I'm at with that.

Q. In your relationship with this golf course, you've had a couple of missed cuts and then you came here for the Presidents Cup. And since then you've been in contention and played quite well, haven't been close to missing cuts, I don't think. What did that do for you, playing in the Presidents Cup here?
JASON DUFNER: It was a good week for me going forward on this golf course. I really struggled with this golf course. The first couple of times I played I think I even didn't play for a couple of years.

But when we came for the Presidents Cup I played really well. I picked some of the guys' brains on the team that year, how do you play these holes, how do you play these situations. And then I was able to use that and come back and have some success. So I've been happy that we had the Presidents Cup here and that I can come back. Now it's one of the events that I don't really want to miss and I feel like I can play well.

Q. Who helped you on the team?
JASON DUFNER: A lot of guys. I played a lot with Zach, Matt Kuchar, Tiger was on the team. He's pretty good around this track. I think Furyk helped me out, Davis Love a little bit. Freddie Couples had a pretty good track record here. Just talking to those guys a little bit on strategy, because we were there as a team. You don't get that too much week to week out here. It was nice to have that event and gave me a little more confidence on this place.

Q. Do you think you might not have come back?
JASON DUFNER: I was kind of giving it up there for a while. I think I missed two or three. And then wasn't really excited about playing the Presidents Cup here, but figured it was a team event so I'd probably be okay. And now I've had good results, good scores, so I feel a lot more comfortable here.

Q. Yesterday you missed your only green at the 18th and you joked you were happy to put that pin position behind you. Today's flag clearly worked out better for you. Could you walk us through that shot with the club?
JASON DUFNER: I had a pretty good number, I think it was about 180 yards adjusted, which is kind of in between a 7 and 8 -- sorry, 7 and a 6. But I went with the 6 because there's that little backboard behind. The course was playing a little bit soft this morning. And I knew that I wasn't going to fly it -- wasn't going to fly it past the pin in that situation. Even if it landed pin-high, it would probably go past the pin and up that bank a little bit and they usually come back down. So it was a good fit for me. A lot of luck with it going in, but probably would have been pretty close for a birdie opportunity. But sometimes you get those situations where the fit's pretty good and you look like a hero. And sometimes we think the fit's good, and we look like a goat. So I'll take it and move on.

Q. You talked about when you putt you use your subconscious mind. But breathing is conscious. So you start with conscious, you control your breathing, then you switch to subconscious?
JASON DUFNER: No, I'm just focused on my breathing. That's a conscious thought for me and then I let the putt and the motion of the stroke be subconscious and natural. I read the putt, get a feel for the line, and as soon as I'm over the ball all I'm thinking about is my breathing and not trying to make putts or anything.

Q. In the past when you've struggled with putting have you found yourself putting more pressure on your long game? Does that lead to more problems?
JASON DUFNER: I don't know if it leads to more problems, but definitely when you're not holing putts I think everybody out here puts more pressure on every part of your game. You feel like you have to get your irons closer, take more chances from time to time, maybe you have to go for par-5s that you might not feel as comfortable doing that with because you're not putting well. You feel like your pitching and chipping has to be perfect so you can make pars when you need to. You feel like your lag putting has to be good if you're not holing putts. It can manifest itself into something you don't want out there.

This year has been really good putting, probably statistically it's been my best year. Probably make more inside eight feet. But I've been really happy with my putting and what I've been doing.

Q. Talking about the heartbeat thing. Is the objective there to bring it down a little bit?
JASON DUFNER: I would assume, yes.

Q. How much lower can it get (laughter)?
JASON DUFNER: Yeah, good question. I think that's the goal of it. I've never had anybody measure it on me. But I know that there's been times with my putting that the thought process and my actions have felt like they've been sped up and too quick. And I'm trying to slow down and focus on that breathing. It's been working. I've been using it all year. This is the first time I've said anything about it. Some days I'm better with it than others. You think it would be pretty easy to be consistent with that, but some days it's not.

The first two days, even with my full shots I've been working on with my routine, that's been the biggest thing. You hear guys talk about their routine and how clean and crisp, and then it happens.

Q. The other thing I'm curious about, I started to ask you what motivated you, I imagine winning, but through the high times and low times of injuries and bad scores or whatever have you continually looked at this as your job or have you still seen it as golf?
JASON DUFNER: It's my job, for sure. I love playing golf. I love competing. But it's professional, it's the job. I'm out here each week doing the best I can, practice and preparation, to compete. And when I'm away from golf I'm away from golf. I don't play much casual golf. But I enjoy it still. I like being competitive. I like playing in tournaments like this and being at the top of the leaderboard. But 20 years into it almost now, it's a job.

Q. Have you ever slacked off?
JASON DUFNER: Oh, yeah, I slack off all the time. Who doesn't slack off?

Q. So often it's always difficult to follow a really good low round with another one, which you did today. When you've got two of them in a row what's the mindset going into tomorrow?
JASON DUFNER: I'm not sure, I've never done two in a row. We'll find out tomorrow.

Q. You've never gone back-to-back like this?
JASON DUFNER: No. Maybe like a 67 and a 63, I think, one time at the Bob Hope. We'll see. I don't think about it too much until you ask questions like that (laughter.)

To be honest, tomorrow is another day. I'm working on my breathing.

Q. Have you ever had a lead -- obviously the day is not done yet, but a six shot lead, at any level that you can recall?
JASON DUFNER: I can't remember. I haven't won many tournaments, so probably not.

Q. How do the greens here compare to the typical greens you play throughout the season? You hear a lot of guys talk about the purity of the roll, does that alleviate some of the things that you have to concern yourself about during a round?
JASON DUFNER: Yeah, these are by far probably the best greens that we play on all year, from the standpoint of consistency on speed from green to green. When I step on 7th green I feel like it's the same speed as the 14th green or the 17th green.

And then also just the consistency of the roll, like you said. You feel like you get a really pure roll. If you start in on your line and your read is right you're probably going to be holing a lot of putts. And I think they get as fast as any that we play. There's a lot of pitch, a lot of undulation out there on these greens. You get above the hole you're just breathing on them when they're moving pretty good.

If you feel like your stroke is good and you're reading the greens well then all you really have to do is worry about your pace. I hit a couple today where my pace was a little off and the ball doesn't have any wiggle or wobble. There's not any room for missing your pace. So I think they're extremely good greens. They've always been good greens. And I think a lot of guys enjoy that. It kind of takes a little bit of the fret out that you know if you're going to make a good stroke that it's going to be pure.

DOUG MILNE: Jason, congratulations, we appreciate your time. Good luck this weekend.

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