Dufner defying expectations to take lead into final round of RBC Heritage

The way Jason Dufner sees it, expectations on the PGA Tour are the enemy.

So he entered the 49th RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links trying to convince himself not to expect too much.

It will be tough to downplay his expectations Sunday, however. Dufner fired a 6-under-par 65 Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Graham DeLaet into the final round at 13-under 200.

Kevin Kisner and Webb Simpson are two shots back, Ian Poulter is three behind and the trio of second-round co-leader Luke Donald, Wesley Bryan and William McGirt are tied for sixth and four strokes back at 9-under 204.

“I think expectations are one of the worst things you can have out here,” Dufner said. “You start thinking about how you should play or how you could play or how you want to play, that really gets in the way of playing well, to be honest with you.

“There are so many things that we try to control out here when we’re playing, and I think sometimes you want to let go of control a little bit more than you want to control. That’s where I’m at this week.”

A bogey on the 18th hole by DeLaet gave Dufner the outright lead, but the Canadian remains in the final twosome with Dufner, teeing off at 2 p.m.

DeLaet, 35, who played in the 2013 Presidents Cup, is looking for his first win in 160 starts on the PGA Tour. He has three runner-up and three third-place finishes.

“Obviously [a win] is the one thing that’s kind of missing, so there’s going to be some battles that I’m going to have inside that I’m going to have to deal with,” DeLaet said. “I feel like I’m ready now. I want to get this monkey off my back, and I want to get it done. I’m going to go out and try to have fun tomorrow. I think if I do that, which is what I’ve done the last few days, it’s going to be fine.”

Dufner was a whirling dervish on the front nine, holing two eagles and a birdie while also making three bogeys to make the turn at 2 under for the round. He played a clean back nine with birdies on holes 10, 14, 15 and 16 and five pars.

Dufner’s eagles came on the par-5 second and fifth holes. He hit a 4-iron from 215 yards to 12 feet on the second, and chipped in from 35 yards on the fifth. “You get a handful of those a year, and it was nice to have one on Saturday when you’re kind of close to the lead,” Dufner said.

Dufner’s only missed cut at Harbour Town came in his debut in 2007 and he has been steady but not spectacular in his seven appearances since, with a tie for 14th in 2011 his top finish.

“I feel like this golf course has always been a good set up for me,” Dufner said. “I haven’t had amazing results here, but I’ve been pretty consistent. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

“Occasionally we get a golf course like this where being in position, being in the fairway, playing a course that’s a little bit shorter so everybody is kind of hitting the same irons into the holes, I feel like I have a little better chance, maybe.”

Dufner’s season has been much like his history at Harbour Town. He has six top-25 finishes this year in eight starts but no top-10s, as a tie for 11th at the Valspar Championship is his best finish.

Dufner, 40, is seeking his fifth PGA Tour win. He ended a 2  1/2 -year winless drought in last year’s CareerBuilder Championship that dated back to Dufner’s major title at the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.

“There were a lot of different things going on after Oak Hill, with my life, and what was going on,” said Dufner, who went through a divorce in 2015. “So I think being a major champion for the first time is a learning experience. I did some things well. I did some things I wish I could do over.

“I think I need to be more realistic about where I’m at with the game of golf and just play as good as I can play, if that’s winning this week, it’s winning. If not, I’m going to go home tomorrow and tee it up in New Orleans in a couple of weeks.”

Dufner has held a lead or co-lead through three rounds in six previous PGA Tour events and has closed out three of those.

DeLaet continued to strike the ball beautifully Saturday, missing just two greens in regulation to bring his total in the tournament to a paltry seven. He didn’t have a lot of short birdie putts, however.

“I played well and I hit a lot of greens, and that was kind of the idea was to try to make it stress free,” DeLaet said.

This story was originally published April 15, 2017 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Dufner defying expectations to take lead into final round of RBC Heritage."