Dufner strikes historical 7 under 63 at the Oak Hills

August 10, 2013 It doesn’t matter weather Jason Dufner wins at the Oak Hills or not, but he has certainly made his mark in the history. Dufner tied a major championship scoring record with a 7-under 63 to take a two-shot lead halfway through the PGA Championship.

“To join history, to shoot a 63 in a major, pretty unbelievable,” Dufner said. “And to be leading the tournament, even better,” He added.

Dufner is 24th player to shoot 63 in a major, and it was the 26th time that it has happened overall on such a stage.

Nevertheless, no one had ever done it at Oak Hills as Dufner bumped off the course record set by Hogan, Curtis Strange and Webb Simpson, whose 64 came only a few hours earlier.

Just a day earlier Adam Scott, who is in a three-way tie for second with Matt Kuchar and Jim Furyk, scared the record book as well.

[highlight] I know the history of major championships, so I knew that nobody had shot 62 [/highlight]

The rain laden second day at Oak Hills saw the Dufner magic spell cast all over. As the game’s best ball-strikers was striking on Friday, it was hard to tell if he was using golf balls or darts in his near-historic round.

The only thing that softened the day was that he left his 12-foot putt for birdie on the final hole 2 feet short and had to settle for being part of a club rather than in his own.

“I know the history of major championships, so I knew that nobody had shot 62,” Dufner said. “I knew where I stood and you couldn’t have a better putt for a chance at history on the last hole, but I just didn’t quite hit it hard enough. Probably the worst putt I hit of the day, which is a little disappointing.”

That was about all he could be disappointed about.

How good are Dufner’s chances of using Friday as a springboard to his first career major? History, ironically, isn’t on Dufner’s side.

Of the 25 previous times a player has shot 63 in a major, only five have gone on to win. However, Dufner would certainly like to make it to his advantage.