Destined to be replayed far more than any shot from Henrik Stenson’s Tour Championship victory is Sunday’s hole-out by 12th-place finisher Keegan Bradley.
Jarring one from 170 yards out was certainly noteworthy. But in the immediate aftermath, in a moment of comic inspiration, Bradley sat down in the seventh fairway, legs straight out, arms to his side, face devoid of expression. Yes, he was “Dufnering.”
Dufnering became something of a rage after Jason Dufner, perhaps the PGA Tour’s least expressive player, was photographed in that sad-sack pose while visiting a school in March. Then everyone wanted to do it.
“I’ve wanted to do it all year,” said Bradley, who was paired with Dufner Sunday. “I thought if I get a chance to do it, I’m going to.
“I told Duf, ‘I don’t care what happens, that was the highlight of my year.’”
“It’s pretty sad his highlight of the year involves me,” Dufner said.
What home-course advantage: Matt Kuchar's struggles at East Lake continued unabated this week. In three previous Tour Championship appearances, the former Georgia Tech star and one-time Atlanta resident had an average finish of 18th. He struggled in with a 71 Sunday, 3-over for the tournament, for his worst finish yet, a tie for 26th.
“It’s unfortunately been a typical week for me here,” he said.
He is beginning to think the whole home-course advantage thing may be overrated.
For one thing, he said, “I really enjoy the course but I don’t know if it’s a great fit for me. A lot of the holes seem to slope opposite of how I try to hit the ball.”
Or perhaps the explanation rests in the time of year: “Maybe it’s just the end-of-a-long-season type thing. Maybe I’m fatigued when I get here and I’m not able to play my best.”
Wood leaves satisfied: Tiger Woods shot progressively better every day of the Tour Championship, wrapping up Sunday with a 3-under 67. He finished at even par for the tournament, in a tie for 22nd. It was plenty good enough to hold onto second place in the FedEx Cup race and the $3 million bonus that accompanied that.
With the Presidents Cup left to play, Woods was asked to assess a season with several Tour victories, but no major championships.
“I’m very satisfied,” he said. “I had a number of chances to win some tournaments. I won five, which is I think a pretty good year. I wish I could have been a little more consistent in some of the events, but overall, add up the win total over the year, it’s a good thing.”
Time to break out the razor, eh: Graham DeLaet did not have the best of weeks, finishing at 4-over. But the good news is he finally gets to shave that groundhog on his face.
As would any self-respecting Canadian, DeLaet began growing his playoff beard (hockey tradition) 10 days before the first FedEx Cup playoff event. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But while he grew the beard, the beard did not grow on him.
“I’m starting to get a little sick of it,” DeLaet told Golf Digest recently. Problem solved now.
Movers of the week: There were not too many violent shifts in the final FedEx Cup points standings as a result of the Tour Championship. Dustin Johnson made the biggest move up, going from 30th entering East Lake to 13th Sunday (which increased his bonus payout by $105,000). Gary Woodland and Kevin Streelman each had the biggest drops — six places — costing each $30,000.
