Golf's Dufner downs Lingmerth in playoff at La Quinta

Jason Dufner won his first US PGA Tour title since the 2013 PGA Championship on Sunday with a tense playoff victory over Sweden's David Lingmerth in the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, California.
Lingmerth's challenge came to a watery end at the second playoff hole, where his second shot from the rough found the water. Dufner then two-putted for a winning par.

The two had finished 72 holes tied at 25-under 263, four strokes in front of their nearest rivals.

Dufner, who started the day with a two-shot lead, missed a 20-foot birdie attempt at the final hole of regulation, signing for a two-under 70 on the TPC Stadium Course at PGA West.

Lingmerth, who had stormed into contention with a 62 on Saturday, carded a bogey-free 65.

Four of his birdies came on the back nine, and he had seized a one-shot lead before Dufner made his fourth birdie of the day at the 16th to rejoin Lingmerth atop the leaderboard.
Dufner then kept his bid for a fourth US tour title alive with a miraculous escape at the par-three 17th, where his tee shot nestled in a patch of sand among the sharp rocks lining the banks of the water-surrounded green.

He opted to play out, and his shot struck the flagstick to leave him a tap-in for par.

Dufner needed all of his calm confidence again at the first extra hole, where he drained a 10-foot par putt to extend the playoff.

"It was tough today," Dufner said. "I didn't play as good on the front nine as I would have liked. I thought I played pretty good on the back nine.

"David put a run at it ... but I'm proud of myself for hanging in there."

Lingmerth could only regret his lone miscue of the weekend.

"I didn't choke up enough on the club," he said of his second shot at the second playoff hole. "The grass just grabbed it a little bit which made the ball turn over. It wasn't really a bad swing, just a mistake on my part -- should have choked up a little more."

Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner of this event in the Southern California desert, fired a final-round 68 to share third place with fellow Americans Andrew Loupe and Kevin Na, who also signed for 68s.

It was a further stroke back to Luke List (66), Jamie Lovemark (73) and Adam Hadwin (72).

Mickelson, playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup in September, said he was encouraged by his progress with changes to his game.

"I'm excited," Mickelson said. "This is a really good week for me, for validation that I'm on the right track and that it's continuing to get better as I go along."
Source: AFP