An Interview with a New and Improved Jason Dufner!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Jason Dufner is the most laid back PGA Tour player I know.
His easy-going demeanor and silky-smooth golf swing have made him a gallery favorite over the past few years. But it has not always been easy. Health problems have plagued his game, and as Connell Barrett from GOLF.com tells us, he had to make some drastic changes to get back to where he could win again. Read on.
Photo: 247 Sports
Jason Dufner is sporting a slim physique and a short haircut. Now, if he can just trim some strokes on the greens…
After battling injury and ill health in 2014, a slimmer, fitter Jason Dufner heads to Whistling Straits seeking to reclaim the Wanamaker Trophy.
You won the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill by two shots over Jim Furyk, but a neck injury kept you from defending your title last year. Are you excited about heading to Whistling Straits?
Last year was tough. I wanted to defend my title, but I was hurt, and when you’re hurt, you have to do things to get back out here. I needed to make some changes.
An Interview with a New and Improved Jason Dufner!
Those changes were big. You dropped 25 pounds—and got a buzz cut. Why did you decide to slim down?
I had no choice. I hadn’t felt good physically for two, three years. Last year I missed the [FedEx Cup] playoffs, the PGA Championship, and the Ryder Cup. I wasn’t ready to give up golf yet, so I changed after [withdrawing from] the PGA. It was drastic, but I had to do it.
What are the specifics of the Dufner Diet?
It’s all about eating clean, meaning no carbs, no gluten, no sugar, no alcohol, no soda. Basically, no junk. I eat clean proteins and better fats, more natural foods. It took some adjusting.
That doesn’t sound like much fun.
It sucked. The first five days on a diet [late in 2014], I literally couldn’t get out of bed—I had headaches, with all of the toxins leaving my system. But I feel a lot better. I have better energy levels, and I can practice more because I don’t have as much inflammation.
How have your altered eating habits affected your golf game?
I’ve gotten some strength back for more swing speed. It’s hard to be competitive out here if you’re injured and feel terrible. Most people’s livelihood doesn’t depend on whether or not they eat cheeseburgers or pizza, but it kind of does for me. I had to do it. I’m getting older—I’m 38 now—and I have an arthritic, degenerative issue with my neck, so I have to do what I can to feel as good as possible.
So you eat absolutely zero junk?
Well, I have a few indiscretions every now and again—In-N-Out Burger—but I’m pretty clean.
So does that mean you’re shirtless at the beach these days?
Nah, I don’t go to the beach. You can’t make any money on the beach.
Where do you find the motivation to work so hard?
In winning and being competitive. Golf isn’t much fun unless you’re playing well. It’s a tough game. I’m not doing it for fun. I’m doing it to win, to beat these guys. Winning means the hard work I put in was worth it.
So golf isn’t a game to you?
No. I don’t look at golf as something fun. It’s my job, my passion, my profession, and something that I take very seriously.
You have three Tour wins, including one major.
It sounds like you have a sense of urgency regarding your career. What’s your vision? How good can Jason Dufner be at his best?
I don’t know that I don’t think about how many majors and how many wins. Competing is in my blood. The competitive part of the game—coming down the stretch on Sunday with a chance to win—is what I enjoy. Being in the mix is where I want to be. That’s when I feel most comfortable.
To read the rest of this interesting interview, go here.
The “Stink Eye” or the “Waggle” which is stranger?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Each and every time good friends Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley play together, it is a show!
With Jason’s unique waggle and Keegan’s unique stare called the “stink eye” and his stuttering pre-shot routine, they are fun to watch! When they imitate each other, it is even funnier! Here is the skinny from both of them!
Fellow PGA Championship winners and close friends Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley comment on each other’s unique pre-shot routines.
Jason Dufner Lean and Mean – You better believe it!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Even Duf’s hair is skinnier! Seriously though, I applaud Jason Dufner’s 20-pound weight loss and his new dietary changes.
A few years ago, a rather pudgy Dufner impressed everyone with his winning golf skills and very laid-back demeanor. But recently, his health suffered from inflammation in his body, partly caused by excess weight. His shoulder, arm, and neck pain led to a win-less season in 2013-14 and little play.
Duff now adheres to a gluten-free diet, avoids fast food, and mostly “eats clean.” Some players, like former PGA Star David Duvall, struggled in golf after their physiques changed. But Dufner’s golf is looking very good recently, and he says he feels better. Eat right and feel good, golfers!
Here is the ‘skinny’ on Jason’s newfound body brought to you by mygolfspy.com
Jason-Dufner-the new skinny version!
Jason Dufner has given up many of his favorite foods in an effort to improve his health, but he doesn’t view his new diet as a sacrifice.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” he said Wednesday. “If I didn’t do it, I wasn’t going to be able to play golf. So it was pretty simple for me.”
The Humana Challenge is Dufner’s first start in the United States since he withdrew from his title defense at the PGA Championship. It’s appropriate that Dufner is making his 2015 debut at an event that emphasizes health and wellness. He lost 20 pounds in the offseason thanks to drastic dietary changes.
Dufner is one of 14 top-50 players in the field, six of whom are in the world ranking’s top 25.
Patrick Reed won last year’s event after opening with three consecutive 63s to set the TOUR’s record for low 54-hole score with relation to par. The defending champ is coming off a victory two weeks ago at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Dufner last played here in 2012, finishing 12th. He has started the past two seasons at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, though, after winning twice in 2012 and the 2013 PGA Championship. He was winless during an injury-marred 2013-14 season, though.
“I haven’t felt good for two or three years, to be honest with you,” Dufner said. “It kind of came to a head last year. I couldn’t play. I missed the Playoffs, missed the defense of my PGA Championship, more than likely missed playing in the Ryder Cup because of it.”
He withdrew after playing 10 holes of his PGA defense and vowed not to return to golf until he was healthy. He made his next start 11 weeks later in Australia.
A new, gluten-free diet has helped him feel better. He said his new diet is aimed at removing inflammation from his body, which was a reason for much of his excess weight. He’s not exactly sure what caused the pain he dealt with for much of last season, but he believes inflamed and tight muscles were compressing on nerves, causing pain in his left shoulder and a “dead arm.”
Dufner’s good friend, Keegan Bradley, said the weight loss will be good for Dufner’s game. He also used discussion about Dufner’s weight as an opportunity to rib his pal.
“In 2011 and 2012, … Jason was playing well. And was a lot skinnier,” Bradley said. “He needed to lose the weight.
After eating completely “clean” for 11 weeks – “That sucked,” he said – Dufner allows himself the occasional indulgence. He had an In-N-Out burger when he arrived in California. He said it will likely be the only one he eats this year.
Fast food has been the hardest thing for him to stay away from, especially with a TOUR pro’s itinerant lifestyle. “I also really like chocolate and peanut butter, for whatever reason,” he said. “I do not eat that very often anymore.”
He was in bed with headaches for the first five days of his diet as his body struggled to adjust. His golf game has felt great, though.
Some players have struggled after their physique has changed. Dufner said that’s not the case. The early returns have been promising. He did play in four overseas starts since the PGA. Finishing no worse than 26th.
He was 10th at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
Jason Dufner Lean and Mean – You better believe it!
The new physique means that the paunch made famous by “Dufnering” is slowly going away. He’s OK with that.
“I’m trying to stay away from that stuff,” he said. “I need to be more focused on what I’m doing on the course and what I need to do to be successful.”
Good on him I say – he looks much healthier, and if it helps him focus more and prevents even a little fatigue that’ll be a massive help.
by Connell BarrettGOLF
