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Jason Dufner shoots 64 to take 2-shot lead in CareerBuilder

Jason Dufner secured his first PGA Tour victory since the 2013 PGA Championship on Sunday, beating David Lingmerth on the second playoff hole at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, Calif.

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FORMER PGA champions Jason Dufner fired a seven-under-par 65 to top the leader board after the second round of the CareerBuilder Challenge in California.

Theoretically, Dufner sealed it when Lingmerth hit his second shot short of the 18th green on that hole, glancing off a rock and going into the pond. But somehow it stayed dry in a sandy area between the rocks.

The two players had parred the first extra hole, also the 18th, with Dufner sinking a clutch 10-footer to keep his title hopes alive after he had conjured a miraculous escape on the penultimate hole of regulation, the par-three 17th.

Phil Mickelson was tied for fifth at 17 under in his first start since the Presidents Cup in October and first since splitting with swing coach Butch Harmon to work with Andrew Getson. Playing in the penultimate threesome, he began Sunday’s finale in solo fourth, five back of Dufner, thanks in large part to a career-tying low 62 in R3.

Dufner switched to a driver and followed Lingmerth into a grass bunker on the right side.

“It just helps when you shoot 30s and 29s”, Dufner said.

The victory was the 38-year-old Dufner’s fourth on the PGA Tour and first since the 2013 PGA Championship.

Both men were tied on 25 under-par after 72 holes but it was Lingmerth who had more momentum as he posted a closing 65.

Of working diligently in the off-season to improve a game that had gone flat, Dufner said, “I worked on… trying to be confident again”. But his story on day three was one of missed putts. But he didn’t hit his approach shots very close and ranked only 30th in strokes gained putting. “Arjun is one of the people who actually encouraged me to come out here”.

Dufner said after he played his first nine holes, he told his caddy and his foursome’s two amateurs, “I’m about to do something good and it kind of happened”.

Dufner shot a 7-under 65, matching the best round of the first two days on the Pete Dye-designed course that is being used in the tournament for the first time since it was dropped from the rotation after its 1987 debut. “I didn’t play as good on the front nine as I would have liked”.

“I thought I was in the water”, he said.

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“I don’t feel as though this is a similar final-round course like we’ve had in the past”, Mickelson said. Next week, Lefty will tee it up at the Northern Trust Open from Torrey Pines in his home town of San Diego.

Dufner Leads Career Builder Challenge